Overheard
by imdoingthiswhy
Summary: Starts at a scene from "Recoil" that I'd missed the first time I saw it. Gates overhears Beckett trying to get a confession, and telling the suspect what Bracken has done to her. Story starts there, and wanders into AU. Uses a couple of deleted scenes found on the S5 DVD's. Romance, drama, family, angst, fluff, etc. in varying degrees.
1. Chapter 1

**Overheard**

Knowing another bomb could be in their near future, Castle stood watching Beckett as she interviewed McManus. Just as she was telling the suspect truthfully that Bracken had killed her mother and gone after her mother's friends and that he had tried to have her killed as well, Gates joined Castle to observe the interrogation.

"Is she talking about Bracken?!" Gates asked in surprise.

"She's just trying to get through to him any way she can," Castle countered.

Gates looked at him questioningly; but she let it go in favor of watching the rest of the interview, finally pulling Beckett out when it became obvious that the detective was losing patience and nothing was going to come of the interview. By then a vest with a bomb had been found, and the captain's attention was pulled in other directions as the case seemed to be winding to a close. However, the claims about Bracken's involvement in Johanna Beckett's murder and Kate Beckett's shooting wandered through her mind briefly at moments during the rest of the day. Something was nagging in the back of her mind, but she was too tired and too busy to place it.

xxxxx

Kate used the remote and clicked off the television as she and Castle sat in her apartment at the end of the day, disgusted at the images they had just seen of Bracken again twisting publicity to the advantage of his ill-gained career. In spite of her bravado about being ready when the senator slipped up, there was still a look that told Castle how hard the whole situation had been for her.

"Come over here with me," he told her, and took her hand to pull her from the sofa and into his lap, tucking her close and kissing the top of her head as she curled into his comforting warmth. As he held her, he mentioned that Gates had heard what she told McManus about Bracken.

"Oh, God," Kate moaned, looking worried. "What did she say?"

"She asked if you were talking about Bracken, and I covered."

"Do you think she bought it?"

"For a second or two I thought she didn't; but she let it go, so I guess maybe…"

"We should know before long, " Kate answered. "If there's something on her mind, she doesn't usually hesitate to confront us about it."

There was another frustrated moan, and Castle tried to sooth her, saying, "If she brings it up, we'll deal with it. That's all we can do. Tomorrow morning we'll see if we can come up with a plausible answer; but, for tonight, let's try to relax at least enough to get some rest. You're exhausted."

"This helps," she admitted.

"It's helping me, too."

She could feel his smile after he dropped another little kiss on her head, and he could feel hers curving against his chest.

"Snuggle with me a little longer," he offered, resting his chin on her head. "Then I'd suggest a warm shower and bed. I'll rub your back…help you relax. Tomorrow will be rife with paperwork."

"For you to watch?" she teased.

"Yeah." A short little laugh rumbled through his chest.

"Not sure what I'd do without you, Writer-man."

"Absolutely sure I don't want you to find out, Detective."

They sat and talked a little longer, conscientiously avoiding mention of Bracken, cases, Gates, the precinct, or anything even remotely unpleasant. Later they followed Castle's earlier suggestion and managed a decent night's rest after the turmoil of the last few days.

The captain was in before her detectives the next morning, ready to tackle the backlog of her own paperwork, which had piled up mercilessly as she dealt with the situation involving the senator. Beckett's words to the suspect broke into Gates' thoughts again, and she suddenly remembered what had been nagging at her. When she had introduced her best detective as being in charge of the case, Bracken had seemed hesitant enough that she had asked if there was a reason he didn't want to work with Beckett. How could she have forgotten that? And Beckett looked as if she might be daring him to challenge her. Some of it could have been her imagination, but for that moment, it looked like something was in the air between them.

'I can't take time to deal with that now,' she mentally scolded herself and willed her thinking toward the stack of work she needed to complete.

She glanced up when she heard the elevator and saw Beckett go straight to her desk, start her computer, and pull files from her desk drawer. She was followed in short order by Ryan and then Esposito. None of that drew her attention away from her work; it just accounted for the rest of the team. About ten minutes later, Castle came in with his standard two coffees. What in the world was the man doing here? Until a new case reared its head, this was a paperwork day.

Gates saw the smile her detective gave Castle when he handed her the coffee…the way they each allowed their fingers to linger against the other's only slightly longer than necessarily. And she was certain that the number of women in New York alone who would pay to have Richard Castle look at them the way he was looking at Beckett could provide Mr. and Mrs. Gates with a substantial retirement fund. Who did those two they think they were fooling? But she had to hand it to them…work was kept professional, and a happier detective was a lot easier to work with. The more she saw of them together, the more she realized there was no keeping them apart. Partners, however the term was meant, described them well. She smiled indulgently as she returned to her work. She would leave them alone unless it became an issue.

A call came in right after lunch. The body of a teen-aged boy was found in the storage room of an electronics store, so the team was dispatched to the scene. After their initial observations of the site and an initial consultation with Perlmutter, they discussed possible witnesses, necessary contacts, and what needed to be done immediately; then they went their separate ways to handle their own agendas.

When Ryan and Esposito arrived at the precinct, Gates was returning to her office with a cup of coffee.

"Anything promising on the new case?" she asked them.

"Not yet, but we're about to do a little digging into backgrounds. Maybe something will turn up."

"We did identify the victim…Thomas Lattimer, Tom, eighteen years old, Ryan answered. The manager said Lattimer had worked there part-time for about a year. He was closing last night…manager went home early for his daughter's birthday party."

"Where are Beckett and Castle?" Gates was too late to catch herself. It was the first time she had slipped and referred to Castle by last name only, the way she often referred to her detectives; and she knew the boys had noticed, even if they tried not to show it.

"The kid only had his father. The mother died a couple of years ago…natural causes. They went to notify the father…see if he had any information that might be helpful," Esposito explained. We've got the address if you want it."

"Put it in an email and get to what you need to do," she answered as she returned to her office.

"Yes, Sir."

"Did you hear that?" Ryan asked quietly as they walked into the break room for their own coffee.

"No 'Mr.' in front of Castle?"

"Yeah. Looks like our boy is finally in," Ryan answered, and they did their victorious hand slap, etc. routine away from Gates' all-seeing eyes.

By the end of the day shift, both Gates and the team of detectives and writer had put in a long day. The paperwork wasn't completely finished, but it was on the good side of 'almost there'; and they had a couple of possible leads in the new case. They all felt good about how much they had accomplished, but all five of them were ready to go home.

"We never had lunch, did we?" Castle asked suddenly, looking toward Beckett as he stood to leave.

"Not unless you want to count coffee and the candy bar from the vending machine," she answered as she shut down her computer.

"Let's go find dinner. I'm starved," Castle said, holding her coat for her. "What sounds good?"

"Food. Not going to be picky. Just lead the way."

Castle smiled, then they said their good-byes and walked to the elevator together.

From her office, the captain watched as the doors closed, looking thoughtful for a moment after the elevator started moving.

Ryan and Esposito had put away a couple of things at their desks and were about to leave when they heard Gates close by, asking, "Is there any reason for some sort of conflict between Detective Beckett and Senator Bracken?" She thought she caught a quickly concealed look of concern on Ryan's face, but Esposito was turned away from her. She couldn't see his response.

Esposito turned as if nothing there was nothing wrong with the question and asked with a smile, "You mean beyond the fact that she despises politicians and he obviously doesn't appreciate the police?"

"When he first came in, I thought… No. You're probably right," Gates answered. "Goodnight gentlemen." With that, she went to her office to gather her things.

Neither man spoke until they were in the elevator when a stunned looking Ryan asked, "I wonder what that was about?"

"I don't know, but we should probably tell Beckett."

"Yeah. She and Castle will probably both freak. Why don't I text them and see if they want to meet us at The Old Haunt for drinks after dinner?"

"That works. Jenny and her sisters are taking her mom to dinner tonight. I'll just let her know where I'll be."

"Whipped, man. You're whipped," the Latino detective teased with his big grin. They reached the ground floor then and walked out into the cold winter evening.

"You're just jealous 'cause you've got nobody to take care of _you_," Ryan threw back unfazed. "When you text Beckett, let her know it could be important. Otherwise they could turn us down in favor of…other activities."

"Bro'! Don't put those thoughts in my head," Esposito blustered. "She's like my sister."

Ryan laughed. "Send the text. Where are we eating?"

"You decide," Esposito answered, keeping his mind on his typing. "Sent," he announced.

"I'm in the mood for a steak," Ryan answered.

"Sounds good. The grill around the corner?"

"Yeah. Hey, got an answer. We're on for drinks. Castle's gonna text when they leave the restaurant."

When they all arrived at the bar, Beckett and Castle wasted no time asking why they needed to talk.

"It might be nothing; but when it comes from Gates, there's always the possibility that it won't be," Esposito started.

"What won't be?" Beckett asked, looking exasperated. "We had to stew over this while we finished our dinner. Just tell us."

"When you left, Gates asked us if there was any reason there might be conflict between you and Bracken."

"Oh, God." She rested her forehead in her hands, and both men looked to Castle for answers.

"When Kate was with McManus a couple of days ago, Gates walked into observation while Kate was telling McManus that Bracken had murdered her mother and tried to have her killed. Gates didn't hear the name, but she picked up that it was Bracken. I tried to cover, and we kind of hoped the captain would let it go; but our luck doesn't usually seem to run that way. What did you tell her?"

Javi recounted the rest of the short conversation, they discussed the number of ramifications of their captain knowing the entire story, and then they decided to just enjoy their drinks and wait to see if anything else came of Gates' interest in the subject.

"If it's any comfort, I don't think she had any idea what's been happening. She looked more concerned than threatening," Ryan told them.

"Yeah, but that will only last until she finds out one of her detectives is covering for a high profile murderer. I'm already on thin ice with her."

"And I'm pretty sure I'd be toast," Castle added.

"I doubt we'd escape, either," Javi answered.

"You know what she's like when she takes on a mission," Kate groaned. "The IA in her comes out, and she doesn't let go until she has answers."

Castle draped his arm around her shoulders and smoothed his hand up and down her arm. "We'll have to see what happens. If it did take her by surprise and she suspects the truth, she's smart enough to know she can't just jump in anywhere and start investigating. If she thinks he killed your mother and her friends and put a hit out on you, she knows she has to be careful. The IA in her will come out there, too. I doubt she'll do anything to tip him off." He took a deep breath and let it go. "But I don't want to think about the conversation where we'd have to tell her what we know."

"We're toast," Beckett agreed grimly.

Esposito apologized as he stood. "Sorry to bring you such a downer after a long day, but we figured you needed to know,"

"No. We needed to know," Castle answered. "We appreciate it."

Ryan stood with his partner, both preparing to leave.

"Yeah, we do," Kate agreed. "Thanks guys."

"Drinks are on us," Castle said.

"There's a lot of 'we' and 'us' around here tonight," Esposito teased. Turning to Ryan, he asked, "You notice that, man?"

"Yeah, I did," Ryan agreed with an answering grin, but he looked back at the still seated couple and added, "It looks good on you."

Kate looked down as if she were uncertain of how to answer at the moment, and Castle gave her shoulders a little squeeze in response.

"See you tomorrow," he told them, and the boys walked away, leaving them alone in the booth.

Leaning her head on his shoulder, Kate asked, "What are we in for now?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, I have the feeling Gates will do her best to keep us alive…even if it isn't at the precinct." He kissed her forehead and said, "Let's go home."

"Yeah," she answered, and gave him a quick, loving kiss before they stood to leave.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

For the better part of three months, Beckett and her team waited for some mention of Bracken, but none came. For the past few weeks, they had relaxed enough for Beckett, Castle's two redheads, and their respective teams to plan Castle an elaborate birthday party and enjoy it. They had felt confident getting the captain involved and had begun to think that the Bracken problem had fallen below the radar again. Then one of the officers bringing in a suspect set it off once more.

It was a few minutes before the end of the shift. The suspect was loud, and Gates came out of her office, hoping there would be no altercations to deal with that late in the day. She watched as a couple of detectives from Karpowski's team took charge of getting the noisy, but non-violent suspect…who was theirs anyway…to the interrogation room.

The captain was about to return to her desk when the young uniform blurted out, "Hey, this is the team that saved Senator Bracken, isn't it?"

Kate visibly flinched at the mention and Castle instinctively placed a comforting hand on hers. They edited their actions so quickly that, had Gates not been so recently attuned to the Beckett/Bracken connection, she would have thought little of it. However, that small moment was all the captain's well-honed detective senses needed to convince her there was something she needed to get to the bottom of. She came back to the moment and heard Esposito's voice giving credit where it was due.

"That honor would go to Detective Beckett over there."

"Good work," the young officer said cheerfully, completely unaware of the havoc he had just wrought. "When the other detectives get back, thank them for taking that guy off my hands. He talked that loud, and hadn't stopped, the whole time since I picked him up. My ears are still ringing." He waved as he left, and everyone smiled back.

Just as the captain opened her mouth as if she were about to say something to Castle and Beckett, the phone in her office rang. Back in her office fielding her phone call, she watched her prey escaping. Well, there was always tomorrow.

Castle was holding Kate's coat for her when she put the last of her things away. "Let's get out of here," he insisted. "Want us to hold the elevator?" he asked the boys as he and Beckett walked past.

"Nah. We got about fifteen or twenty minutes more work to do before we leave." Ryan answered, and both men distractedly raised a hand toward the couple as they left.

Her phone call finishing a little late to catch Beckett and Castle, Gates' attention turned to the other two unsuspecting members of her team. She picked up a random file from her desk as a prop and walked over to where the two men were working.

Seeing a shadow cross their desks, the two detectives looked up to find their captain looking serious and determined.

"A word, please…in the conference room?" she asked…even though it was obviously an order, not a question. Holding up the file in her hand, she insisted, "I need you to bring me up to speed on a couple of things."

"This is almost done. Could we take a couple of minutes?" Esposito asked as respectfully as he could manage while being annoyed at the interruption.

"I'll get some coffee and meet you there."

"Yes, Sir," Ryan answered.

When the Captain was in the break room, Ryan hissed quietly to his partner, "What have you done now?"

"Me?! It must have been you this time. I've been on my best behavior lately."

"I didn't do anything, either," Ryan insisted, "and I caught a look at that file she had. The case isn't even one of ours."

"Something's up, Dude. We better hurry this up and get in there."

After quickly finishing their reports and saving them, they went directly to the conference room, finding the captain standing restlessly near the table with her don't-mess-with-me-and-don't forget-who's-in-charge look clearly in place.

"Have a seat, please." She took the chair at the head of the table after they were seated and put her coffee down in front of her. Resting her forearms on the table and clasping her hands, she said firmly, "I need to know exactly what the situation is between Detective Beckett and Senator Bracken."

"Maybe you…" Esposito began, but he was cut off before he could finish his evasive answer.

"Before you say anything else, Detective, it would serve you well to remember that I was an excellent detective before you ever thought about police work. That has not changed."

The two men looked at each other, trying to decide how to handle the unexpected situation.

"We can't." Ryan said softly. "It's her _life_ we'd be playing with."

"So she was telling McManus the truth?"

"She… I'm sorry. It isn't that… We can't," he answered.

"It's that bad?" Gates asked, leaning back in her chair, a cold feeling creeping through her.

"It's bad." Esposito agreed. Neither man had looked up since the question had been presented.

"I need to know. I'm not stupid. I used the pretense of bringing you in here about a case because I knew if it's anything as duplicitous as I'm beginning to expect, Bracken probably has eyes and ears somewhere here to watch Beckett. If someone is trying to kill my detective, I want to know. And I need to know what I'm up against. I don't want to unknowingly do anything that would make matters worse."

"We understand that, Captain," Esposito answered. "But _you_ have to understand, too. Any of us would stop a bullet for any of the others if it came to it. But Beckett has lost so much in her life…" He stopped and seemed to be thinking for a moment. "She's very protective of the people she cares about…Ryan and me, Lanie, her dad…"

"And Mr. Castle?"

"And Castle," Ryan conceded. "And by extension, his family. She's afraid for them."

"Surely you know by now that you can trust me," Gates pointed out. "We may not always see eye-to-eye, but have I let you down yet? Has there been a single time when I had all the information I needed and didn't have your backs?"

"No, Sir. And we respect that." Esposito finally looked up, letting her see that, even considering previous unwelcome disciplinary action, he meant what he said.

"You need to tell me everything you know. And remember, I was IA for years. I'll have a pretty good idea if you're holding anything back. I didn't get to be Iron Gates without good reason."

"No way. We can't do that," Ryan answered firmly. "There's a truce between them, but it's a precarious thing. It doesn't matter that she saved his life. He's put out hits on her twice. If he can get around the reason for the truce, or if an investigation looks even remotely connected to her, he'll have her killed, or kill somebody else she cares about. She's been through enough."

"Working IA has given me a good idea of who I can trust…and there are other connections I've built over the years, federal connections when problems crossed state or international lines. Let me put them to work on this. I'll turn it over to people I know I can trust…"

"We thought we could trust…" Ryan mumbled, only to get an elbow and a stern look from his partner.

"Nothing will be initiated from here. I'll give it to a federal agent. There are two I'd trust with my life…and my family's. They're good agents, and experienced enough to know who they can trust. I don't want to lose any of my people to this…you included…or Mr. Castle…or his family. And, as you said, Detective Beckett has been through enough. Don't you want to give her the chance to live the rest of her life without constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop?"

"I don't know," Esposito answered doubtfully, shaking his head.

Gates could see that they were bending a little, so she pushed harder, making them think. "My God, detectives, the way things are going, this man could be our next president. A murderer. From what I'm beginning to see, for all intents and purposes, a serial murderer, whether he actually got his hands dirty in the process or not. Is that what you want in the White House? Threatening people to get them to protect him is apparently how he got this far. Let's break the pattern and turn what you have over to people who can do more than we can. If they can take him down, there's a big weight off a lot of shoulders."

"Not unless Beckett agrees," Ryan responded. "Everybody who's tried to help us with this case is dead. She's the only one who's survived, and she almost didn't."

"Agreed," Gates conceded. "I'll speak to her tomorrow."

"Them," Esposito said quietly.

"Them?" The captain's eyebrows rose.

"Castle, too. He knows as much as she does…helped find a lot of it," Ryan explained. "He has a stake in this, too."

"Duly noted. Then I'll speak to _them_ tomorrow. Thank you. I think we can all go home now."

"Yes, Sir," the partners said, voices overlapping as they stood to gratefully escape their surprise inquisition.

The boys immediately took the elevator down, not waiting for Gates.

"I _so_ did not see that coming," Esposito said.

"Me, either," Ryan agreed. "She's good. I wanted to cave and spill my guts."

"Yeah. Kind of leaves you shaken, doesn't she? I got new respect for her…and maybe a little fear."

"I'll drop you off at your apartment," Ryan offered with a laugh. "Think we should talk to Castle and Beckett first?"

Taking out his phone, Javi said, "Damn straight we should talk to them first. Let's see whether they're home or out somewhere." He brought up Castle's number and waited as it rang.

"It feels weird to talk about both of them being at home and mean at the same place," Ryan said. "It kind of feels right, though. Well, it isn't officially her place, too, but I think it might as well be lately. I guess they each have two places to call home now."

"Yeah. I didn't think I'd live to see it," Esposito answered, suddenly giving his attention to the ringing on his phone. "Hey, Castle. Are you home? Is Beckett there?"

"Just got here. Yes to both. What's up?"

"We need to talk again. Same talk as at The Old Haunt a few months ago, but bigger. Can we come by right now?"

"We'll be looking for you."

"What was that about?" Kate asked, and Castle filled her in. "I was about to think she'd let it go," she said with a sigh of frustration.

"She doesn't miss much. That officer bringing up Bracken's name today probably set it off again," Castle answered, taking her into his arms protectively.

Kate wrapped her arms around his waist, rested her head on his shoulder, and accepted the comfort. After a long moment, she pulled back and said, "I'm going to get out of these shoes before they get here. Can we order in tonight?"

"Chinese?"

"Can we get Italian this time? I have the feeling we could need comfort food."

"Good point. Italian it is, then."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

By the time Castle had ordered dinner, Beckett returned wearing flat shoes and looked nervous.

"I don't want this to start over. The constantly looking over our shoulders is wearing thin," she said.

"They must have been leaving the precinct when they called, so they shouldn't be long. I ordered enough Italian to share. Ryan might want to go home to Jenny, but Esposito would probably want something."

The food and the other two detectives showed up at the door around the same time, and the boys were ushered to the dining table.

"Do you want something, Ryan, or does Jenny have dinner waiting?" Castle asked.

"I should probably wait…but maybe a little of that to stave off starvation?" he asked, pointing at the pasta. It all looks good."

Dishes and silverware were placed on the table, and everyone helped themselves as the discussion began, the boys giving them a rundown of their conversation with Gates.

"We saw first-hand where that Iron Gates thing came from. That talk was…" Esposito stopped, searching for a word of description.

"Psychological warfare," Ryan stated, looking wrung out just thinking about it. "If you ever want back-up in an interrogation…"

"Other people could have asked us the same questions, and it wouldn't have fazed us; but…" He stopped and shook his head again. "New respect, man."

"Sorry you got dragged into all this," Beckett answered apologetically.

"We're good. It just took us by surprise," Esposito told her.

"Yeah, we're good," Ryan agreed, "but the captain is going to have all night to prepare her arguments for you two. We just thought you should be prepared."

"Thanks for that. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow," she admitted.

"We might as well go talk to her first thing," Castle suggested to Beckett. "If she's going to fire you or kick me out, or both, we could at least have the rest of the day to lick our wounds in peace." He reached over to take Beckett's hand supportively.

She put her other hand over his and answered, "Might as well."

From there, they just talked until dinner was finished and the boys were ready to leave. "Come on, man, I'll drop you off before I go home," Ryan said to Esposito.

"No, that's in the opposite direction," Castle answered, taking out his phone. "Go home to Jenny for dinner. I'll get Javi a cab. I'll walk you down…keep him company while he waits." He turned to Kate. "You okay?" he asked softly, trailing his fingers gently across her cheek. "Want to come with us?"

She cupped her hand around his and smiled. "I'm okay. You go ahead, and I'll clear the table."

While his hand was already at her cheek, he left a little kiss on her lips and followed the boys out the door.

"Looks like you're taking good care of our girl," Esposito said approvingly.

"Doing my best," Castle answered. "You think Gates will really know who to trust?"

"If the way she went about tonight is any indication, she understands being careful. Kept her back to the door, soft-spoken, but _very_ intense..."

"Not that the two of you won't be royally raked over the coals for the secrecy, but she seemed honestly concerned about removing the threat. And you should have heard the rant about a murderer that close to being president. She was outraged. She may be our best bet," Ryan answered.

"Yeah. What he said," Esposito agreed. "I think I'd trust her."

"Okay. We'll talk to her tomorrow…and see if we're still working there…or not. Thanks, Ryan," Castle said as Kevin walked toward his car, and Ryan held up a hand, half waving as he got in. Turning to Esposito, Castle started a conversation that turned into small talk and excitement about a new video game.

The cab was there before long, and Castle handed the driver several bills and said, "Take the man wherever he wants to go."

Simultaneously, the cabbie said, "Yes, sir," and Javi said, "I can pay for my own cab, Castle."

"I know that," Castle answered. "Just a thank you for having our backs."

"Okay. Then thanks, man."

Castle gave him a brotherly slap on the arm as Javi got in the taxi.

xxxxx

When Castle and Beckett arrived at the precinct the next morning, Gates was already at her desk.

Beckett put her purse in her desk drawer and took a deep breath. She and Castle both looked resigned.

"Ready to see if we can beard the lion?" Castle asked.

"As ready as I'll get."

"And we've agreed to invite her to the loft to see the murder board?"

"Yes."

"Even if it reminds her that we're together?"

"She knows already, anyway. At least, after the bomb, she was really impressed with you. We can hope that helps."

"I love you."

Kate surreptitiously squeezed his hand. "I love you, too. Let's go."

Together they walked to the captain's door, and Castle let Beckett initiate contact.

"Sir, do you have a moment?"

"What is it detective?"

"We saw our partners last night, and we understand you wanted to speak to us today."

"I do, but it has to be later," Gates answered, looking up from her work.

"Just say when," Castle responded.

"At ten, in the conference room. I have a meeting in twenty minutes, but I should be back by then. Bring your case notes and evidence log."

"Yes, Sir," Beckett answered.

As they returned to Beckett's desk, Castle commented, "Well, at least she was civil."

"Wonder how long that will last?" Beckett wondered out loud.

Ryan had arrived while Castle and Beckett were with the captain. "'Morning," Castle called as Esposito left the elevator to join Ryan.

The boys gravitated toward Beckett's desk and the murder board.

"Did you see her yet?" Esposito asked.

"Meeting her at ten in the conference room," they heard from Castle.

"Good luck," Ryan answered, shaking his head. "Anything new? Any lab results come in?"

"Nothing yet," Beckett told them, "but it's still pretty early. We should get something before too long."

The afternoon before, they had started the board, logged everything they had at the time, and bounced around some speculation on connections in a couple of areas; but they still had witnesses to interview that afternoon and anticipated getting lab results sometime during the day. Picking up where they had left off the night before, they started with the information from their victim's father and worked for a while before Beckett's phone rang.

"Beckett."

"Detective Beckett, this is Jake Lattimer, Tom's father. I spoke to you yesterday."

"Yes, Mr. Lattimer. What can I do for you?"

"When my other two children got home from school yesterday, I had to tell them about their brother. It was hard. My daughter is more involved with her friends than her brothers, but my son, Charlie, spent a lot of time with Tom. He had a lot more questions than I would have expected, and some of them made me think he might know something that could help…even if he doesn't realize it. He's willing to talk to someone if you want. I've never been involved with anything like this, so I don't know what to ask; and yesterday didn't seem to be the right time. We just needed to be together…have time to take it all in, you know?"

"I understand that. And it would be a big help to talk to both the children. If you don't mind having us speak to your daughter as well, she may not know about her brother's activities, but she may know connections between the people they all know…or know of."

"I didn't send them to school today. I could bring them in if you have time to see us."

"We're at the Twelfth Precinct, Homicide Division. Could you come in at one?"

"We'll be there. Anything we can do to help."

"We'll be looking for you."

The others looked to Kate for an explanation when she hung up the phone.

"The victim's father is bringing in the brother and sister at one. He thinks the brother may know something, even if he doesn't realize it."

"Wish all the victims' families were that cooperative," Ryan answered.

"Me, too. Castle and I can talk to the kids." Picking up her mug, she said, "I'm getting some coffee before Gates gets back."

Castle asked Ryan about something he had said earlier, and the three men talked while Beckett was in the break room. She returned with an extra cup of coffee for Castle and they had barely taken their first sip before Gates breezed out of the elevator a little earlier than expected and into her office.

"Five minutes…conference room," she said quietly as she passed them.

"Yes, Sir," Beckett answered.

The boys made themselves scarce, trying to look inconspicuous at their desks, while Beckett and Castle started toward the conference room. They had barely rounded the corner before Beckett was back to pick up a file from her desk, as instructed.

When Gates entered the room with her own coffee, they all sat down to talk. "Where would you like to start, Captain?" Castle asked.

Looking directly at Beckett, she asked, "What I heard when you interviewed the suspect in the Bracken case…that was the truth, wasn't it? The senator is responsible for three murders and two attempts on your life?" She had obviously done her homework.

"Yes, sir."

"And why wasn't this reported?"

"There isn't enough evidence, and people who have tried to find more have died."

"Your partners said there's a truce between you and Bracken. How did you manage that?"

"Sir," Castle interrupted. "If you'll meet us at my apartment tonight, we can show you everything we have. We'll explain all of it, but we'd be more comfortable if we don't have to do that here. Kate has nearly died twice, and I don't want to take the chance that he could see a reason to try again."

"Neither do I," Kate agreed.

"Nor do I," Gates echoed. "The safety of my staff is of prime importance, but there are things here that appear to need federal attention. I'm well aware of the need to keep it under wraps, but it needs to be addressed somehow before it's too late."

"We didn't know who we could trust," Beckett answered. "He seems to know everything as soon as we do, but we haven't figured out how. I don't want Castle's family in his sights, and that's the kind of thing Bracken might consider doing as a warning."

Gates leaned back, tapping the end of a pen on the table, and looked at the couple for a moment before she released a long breath, and said, "All right. Seven-thirty?"

"That's fine," Castle answered. "Thank you."

The captain stood and straightened her jacket. "Seven-thirty, then…and I'll expect you to be generous with details and explanations."

"Yes, Sir," Kate answered as Gates walked back to her office.

"Well, that was less painful than I thought," Castle commented.

"I'm still not looking forward to tonight."

"Me either," he answered. "Back to work, I guess. I definitely don't want to look unbusy today."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The knock on the door came at exactly seven-thirty, and Castle answered the door and invited the captain in.

"Would you like something to drink before we start?"

"No thank you. Let's just get to the subject at hand. I'm sure you're both as tired as I am, but we need to talk about this. Should we spread everything out on the table over there?"

"We have everything laid out for you in my office."

"You have a beautiful home, Mr. Castle," Gates commented as she followed him to his study.

"Thank you," he answered. Gesturing toward a stack of papers on his desk, he told her, "We have hard copies of whatever you might want, and a stick drive with everything you're about to see." Turning to his screen, he motioned toward it with his hand, "But everything we have, we can see here. I don't suppose I need to mention…"

"No, Mr. Castle, I'm well aware of the danger in this."

"It's dangerous for you, too, captain…and your family. Are you sure about getting involved?" Kate asked.

"I'm sure…which is why I intend to be as careful as humanly possible. Now, forgive my manners, but I'm here because I was promised answers…and explanations.

Castle clicked his virtual murder board to life, showing the timeline of all the murders they were sure Bracken had ordered. The screen spoke for itself. Included in the timeline were the other attempts at Beckett's assassination and the torture of Ryan and Esposito.

"These are only the murders and attempted murders connected to the case surrounding Johanna Beckett," Castle pointed out. "If he's been this ruthless here, it's bound to have happened in other places…probably a lot of other places."

Gates had seen the reports from all of the cases, but the some of the connections they claimed still took her by surprise. "Take me through it first…just an overview…then go back and fill in details."

"Yes, Sir," Kate answered, and she gave brief explanations as things moved from page to page on the screen.

About halfway through, Gates breathed quietly, "Roy, how did you get yourself into such a mess?" Then she was quiet again as Kate completed the brief guided tour. Castle turned a chair toward the screen for the captain, and she sat down looking shaken. "I can certainly see why you were reluctant to trust anyone. I do have trouble with…" She let the rest of the statement go unsaid.

"Are you ready to go back to the beginning?"

"You do realize you can't keep sitting on this?" Gates asked.

"Captain, there's very little that either of us could want more than to see Bracken hang for what he's done. He deserves every second of the punishment and the public disgrace that he's earned, but how many more people have to die for it?" Castle questioned.

"When I confronted him about my mother's death, he didn't even bother to deny it," Beckett stated, her anger obvious. "He actually had the gall to rationalize it as being for the greater good…like he was talking to his campaign manager…working on the right spin. He has no conscience at all. Ordering another murder or assault after all these years is second nature now. I don't think it means any more to him than snapping his fingers…or shaving in the mornings."

"You confronted him about your mother?!" Gates exploded. "When and where?"

"When he was in New York last fall."

"Does that have anything to do with the truce?"

"It does," Kate answered, looking resigned to the as yet undefined level of hell she was certain would ensue before Gates left. "Should we talk about that now, or start from the beginning?"

"I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. Let's start from the beginning," the captain answered and turned her attention back to the screen.

Castle and Beckett looked at one another as if deciding who would do the talking, and they sat down together on the couch near Gates' chair.

Beckett started. They went through the timeline's cases step by step, providing the details they knew about each one. Captain Gates was familiar with most of the individual cases, but with Roy Montgomery's information added to what they had in the precinct's files, they took on a whole new meaning. She was told about Smith and the files Montgomery had sent him…and the explosion.

"So that's what you were looking for in that building where you were 'just in the neighborhood' and heard the explosion?"

"Yes, Sir. It meant my life…possibly our lives. When we found Smith, he was alive. We got him help, and he gave us a hint about finding the files; but they managed to kill him in the hospital."

"So Maddox was killed because he got to the safe first, and it exploded?"

"Right. If it had been one of us…" Castle started.

"I got that," Gates interrupted. "And the files?"

"Everything left of them fits in a large Ziploc evidence bag," Kate admitted. "In a lot of small pieces."

"And you still have those pieces?"

"Yes," she answered, looking down rather than at her captain.

"And they should be in the evidence room?"

"Yes, Sir. It was the only leverage we had. We tried to reconstruct some of it. If we had nothing, who knows how many of us would have died for it?"

"And you somehow gained your truce by?" the captain asked.

"By bluffing," Kate answered.

Castle took over at that point. "We managed to match a couple of pieces together, and it gave us a bank account number from the nineties. Knowing what was likely to be in the files, we knew it could be the last link in identifying the one man responsible for all of this. We managed to trace the account number to Senator Bracken, and no, we won't tell you how we did it."

Gates looked back and forth between them in amazement…seeming to be at an uncharacteristic loss for words. Finally she managed, "By bluffing?!"

"Yes, Sir." Kate answered. "Castle didn't know I intended to do it. I told Bracken there were copies of the files, but he didn't believe me; so I gave him the account number and told him what it was used for. It must have been accurate, because he was ready to make a deal...meaning that I'd give up working on the cases, and he'd let me live and not hurt anybody I care about." She paused for a heavy breath. "So, that's the flimsy state of our lives."

"My God, Detective! How long do you think that can last? That was a foolhardy move, but I have to give you credit for intestinal fortitude. And he bought it?"

"We're all still here."

"No wonder he wasn't anxious to work with you."

Gates had been with them, following the various cases and new revelations and asking questions for about two hours, and she seemed overwhelmed with the disastrous mess that now surrounded her.

"So the gist of this whole thing is that the two of you have heard things firsthand from players in the situation and know your facts are accurate; but all your evidence was in Roy's files, which are now reduced to less than a jigsaw puzzle? And a couple of the jigsaw pieces, which, without the rest of the files, actually prove nothing, are all that's standing between you and another hit man?"

"That just about covers it."

"And the two of you…or is it the four of you…have managed to put all this together behind my back?"

"At first we couldn't know if you were part of keeping an eye on Kate. We didn't know…" Castle began apologetically.

"Understood," Gates interrupted. She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "I don't know how you've managed as long as you have."

"Badly, a lot of the time," Kate answered.

"There are things here that shouldn't have happened, lines that shouldn't have been crossed by a police officer…things you should be disciplined for, but the circumstances…" The captain stood and started gathering her things. "I'm making some phone calls tomorrow morning, arranging some meetings. I promise you I won't take any more chances with your families' safety than I will with mine, but it's no longer an option. This is too big to ignore. He has to be stopped…and it has to happen from somewhere other than the twelfth."

Gates or no Gates, Castle put his arm protectively around Kate's shoulders. "She's right, Kate," he said gently. "Who knows how many others are in the same situation we are…with fewer resources and less help. If a few things can be proven, maybe others will speak up, and Bracken's network will collapse. It's bigger than we originally thought and affects more people than we ever imagined. We have the option of help without endangering your life again. It's time."

"I know, but it's hard."

Castle stood, holding his hand out to her, and she stood with him, quickly brushing an embarrassing tear from the corner of one eye. Seeing that, Castle instinctively pulled her closer.

Gates caught that, too. "I know this is personal for you, Kate, and I'm sorry to take you out of it. It's all right to cry," she said, sympathetically touching Kate's arm. "You've already been through hell and back. We all need a place where we can break down now and then…and someone we trust enough to allow them to see it."

"How much of this do you want, and how should we handle it?" Castle asked, indicating the printed copies on the table and the still open screen.

"Let me digest all this…make the phone calls first, then I want all of it. We'll decide how to manage that when we need it."

"Just let us know."

They walked the captain to the door and said their goodnights, then Castle locked up and held Kate as quiet tears rolled down her cheeks.

The following morning, Beckett's team was given a case involving a death in a car explosion…bringing them into contact with drones and a federal agent, Jared Stack.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN/ **In the description of the story, it said to expect romance, drama, family, angst, fluff, etc. in varying degrees, and as advertised... The rest of that list starts kicking in in the next few chapters, but the drama will return. Be patient with me. There's a lot going on in their lives other than Bracken.

******Chapter 5**

As well as solving their original case, Beckett's team at the twelfth found leads that took them to the man Agent Stack was looking for; and Stack was impressed enough with Beckett to offer her his recommendation for a place on the exclusive task force attached to the Attorney General's office. He gave her his superior's number and encouraged her to call for an interview.

Unfortunately, Kate not only called but flew to DC for the interview without telling Castle…causing a sizable rift between them. When they did finally talk at the swings where a couple of their important decisions had been made, she was shocked that, rather than ending in the break-up she thought she saw coming, it ended with a proposal…with no conditions about the job.

"Castle?"

"That isn't an answer."

"This is really what you want…even if my job could be in Washington?"

"That isn't an answer, either…but yes, it's what I want."

"Then stand up, Rick," she said softly, taking his hand. "If anybody should be down on one knee, it should be me…asking you to forgive me." When Castle was on his feet, she stood with him and slid her arms around his neck, pulling him close.

Wrapping his arms around her waist while being careful not to drop the ring, he nuzzled her neck lovingly. "Still not an answer, but I like the direction it's taking."

"When we agree to get married, it should be face to face…equals…full partners…nobody kneeling."

"Equals. I like that, too. Was that a yes?" he asked, pulling back and cupping her face with his left hand.

She pulled back far enough to look him in the eye and firmly said, "Yes…that was a yes." Then she kissed him just as firmly and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck again before she tucked her head under his chin and allowed herself some tears of relief. "When you stood up before…I thought you were leaving me. I thought I'd ruined everything. I'm sorry...the doubting…the job…"

"Shhh…we'll work it out. Don't cry. Engagements are supposed to be happy." Hearing a muffled, watery little laugh, he asked, "Do you want to see your ring?"

Kate released the death grip she had on Castle's neck and held out her left hand. When he slid the ring on her finger, she could see him watching for a reaction as she got a good look at it.

"Do you like it?" he asked hopefully. "If you'd rather have something different, we…"

"It's beautiful. It's what you chose for me, I love it, and you're not getting it back."

"Okay," he answered, finally smiling as if he might never stop. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Can we say that a lot for a few days? I don't know about you, but I could use some reassurance."

"Yeah. Me, too," she answered and planted another kiss on his lips. "I love you."

As he held her close and repeated the words next to her ear, they heard applause from three moms who were alternately watching them and watching their children play near a piece of playground equipment on the other side of the park. They separated in surprise, resting their foreheads together for a moment, then smiled and waved.

"We still have some serious talking to do," Castle pointed out, "but I wanted you to know where I stand before I knew what decision you made."

"Maybe we should have that talk away from our audience…before one of them realizes who they're watching and sends a picture where we don't want it to go right now."

"I took a cab. We can talk in the car before we leave," he suggested.

She nodded, and they walked to the car together, his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist. On the way to the car, three voices shouted, "Congratulations" from across the park. They smiled at one another and waved again without stopping. Castle opened the driver's side door for Kate and leaned to kiss her before walking around to get in on the passenger side.

"You're really willing to work out a two city marriage?" Kate asked.

"DC isn't that far. If I'd had the chance, I would have told you that."

"You sound like you've already started making plans. Has someone told you something?"

"No, but I know it isn't a matter of if you get the job…just a matter of when. You wouldn't have been invited to look into the task force if Stack hadn't seen something as extraordinary as I do. Kate, I'm so proud of that. It may not be easy, but we'll figure it out. It's what people who are committed to each other do. I just need to know you're as committed to this as I am."

"I am. I know it's hard to tell sometimes, but I am. I do want to marry you." She sat quietly, seeming to be thinking for a long moment. "But, what about you? Alexis and Martha…"

"Both of them have their own lives now, and if one of them needs me, I can be back in no time. I can go back to New York when work takes you out of town. Didn't you hear me say, 'Whatever you decide'?" he asked. "You wouldn't have interviewed for that job if you weren't interested in it. If it's something you think you want, you owe it to yourself to find out if it really is; and I owe it to you to back you up while you do. I'm not happy about the way you handled it, but I don't want to give up on us without a fight…the good kind this time."

"Neither do I. That's why I called."

"Did you already get the job offer?"

"Yes. Not long before I called you."

"What did you tell them?"

"That I needed a couple of days to decide. I called you so we could talk about it...the way I intended to if it happened. I didn't intend to leave you out, Rick. I hope you can believe that. The job wasn't a sure thing. I only intended to wait until I knew one way or the other, but I should have told you about the offer when you asked why Stack wanted to see me. I understand why you were so angry. I made it sound like it was only about me."

"I'm probably not quite over that, but I'll get there. The job decision is yours. I can tell you how I feel about it, but I don't want you to have to regret giving up an opportunity like this. If it's what you want, I'll support you however I can."

"Are you sure? It's going to be hard."

"If I had a phenomenally brilliant idea for a new book series and needed to give up Nikki Heat to write it, would you try to stop me…if you could see the potential in it?"

"No," she answered, staring forward without looking at him. "I'd be disappointed, but I'd understand." Then she looked at him playfully. "As long as you ended the series with Nikki and Rook holding hands and walking off into their always. I'd want to think they're happy…no matter how much trouble you've given them."

Castle took her left hand from where she held the steering wheel. "And here we are, considering a major change in your career. If you take the job, I'll be disappointed; but I'll understand, and we'll make it work." Looking down at her hand, he moved the ring around with his thumb, calling her attention to it, then he looked up at her with a smile. "See? We've already decided to walk off together into _our_ always. And I want to think we'll be happy, no matter how much trouble we contend with. This past year with you has been the best…"

He was interrupted when she cupped her hands around his face and pulled him to her for a kiss that accomplished more than saying, "I love you."

"Maybe we should leave now," he said, breathing a little harder than normal. "If you do that again, those three moms might get more than they bargained for."

"I told Ryan and Esposito I needed to tell them something, but that I needed to tell someone else first. I didn't talk to Gates yet, either. It's getting late in the afternoon, but they should all still be there."

He leaned in for one more kiss, leaving both of them smiling, and then said, "So, back to the precinct?"

"Yeah, but I'd rather take you back to my place and have my way with you," she answered with another smile.

"Me, too," he agreed with an answering grin. "Later?"

"Definitely." Kate pulled out into traffic and headed for the twelfth.

xxxxx

"Hey, Castle's back," Ryan whispered, elbowing his partner when he saw the elevator door open.

"Beckett was so upset when I asked about him this morning, I was afraid they were done."

"They look happy. I guess they worked it out," Ryan answered.

"Anything new while I was gone?" Beckett asked.

"Nope. Just the paperwork. The suspect is in holding. Somebody should be here to pick him up any time."

"We need to talk to you. It won't take long. Is the conference room open?"

"I think Karpowski just finished talking to a victim's family. Let me check." Ryan got up and was back in no time, motioning to them and saying, "Come on."

The other three members of the team followed him into the room and sat down at the table. Kate sat with her hands clasped in her lap, looking down.

"Is it that bad?" Esposito asked.

"I'll just say it. When Agent Stack was here, he asked me to interview for the AG's task force. I've had the interview, I've been offered the job, and I'm considering it. It's in DC. Gates gave them her recommendation. She doesn't know about the offer yet, though. I wanted to tell you first, but I needed to talk to Castle before I did that."

"So are you taking it?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Esposito echoed. "Are you leaving us for the feds?"

Both men looked disappointed, and Esposito looked a little angry.

"I'm still deciding," she answered, running the fingers of both hands through her hair in one of her typical gestures of frustration. "It's a harder decision than it would have been a few years ago."

As her fingers slid into her hair, Esposito caught a flash of light he hadn't noticed before, and instead of asking about the job again he exclaimed, "Holy… Is that what I think it is on your left hand?"

The smile on Castle's face was all the answer he needed. "She said, 'Yes,'" the writer answered.

"So, whatever was going on, I guess you worked it out." He pointed his finger threateningly at Castle before he finished saying, "Congratulations, man…you don't take care of her, we know where to find you. You know that, right?" He and Ryan got up to hug Beckett, then each gave Castle a man hug; and the mood in the room took a decided turn in a more positive direction.

"You look happy, Beckett," Ryan said. "You deserve this. And you better be good to him, too; he's part of the family now. I'm happy for both of you, and I can't wait to tell Jenny. She's been dying to see this."

"And if you know what's good for you, you'll stop by and tell Lanie before you go home," Esposito warned.

"Thanks for that," Kate answered. "Lanie is definitely on the list."

"Now, what about the job in DC?" Ryan asked. "Is Castle going with you…if you go? Will our team be down to just two?"

"We haven't worked any of it out yet. There are details we'd have to decide on after I have more information. I wanted you to hear it from me first," Kate explained. "When I decide, you'll be the first to know, and I'd like to keep it quiet until I do."

"You know we're better than the feds, but we don't look nearly as good on a resume," Esposito answered with a grin. "We'd rather keep you here, but maybe you can teach them something."

"Right. I'm sure they'd see it that way," Beckett dead-panned. "Thanks for not giving me a hard time."

"We may not be done yet," Ryan warned.

"Yeah. You took us by surprise," Javi agreed. "Caught us off our game."

She smiled at her partners' teasing tone then looked at Castle. "I guess the next stop is the captain's office."

Castle nodded, and he and Kate left the room. "They took it better than I thought they would."

"I think seeing the ring made it easier. There was something to be happy about." Looking thoughtful, she added, "It would be hard not seeing them every day. They're like my brothers."

"Captain, do you have a minute?" Castle asked as the couple stood at her door.

"I'll make one. Come in."

"Sir, I heard from the task force. I was offered the job. They need an answer by day after tomorrow, and I thought I should let you know that the possibility is there."

"Congratulations, Detective," Gates answered, resting her forearms on her desk. "I had the feeling they would see your potential. So, you haven't decided yet?"

"There were some things I needed to consider."

"Some things, or someone?"

"Both."

"If she stays, you should know that we're planning to be married," Castle told the captain. "We wanted you to be aware of everything you need to know."

"Then more congratulations are in order…for both of you." Captain Gates' eyes went to Kate's left hand, catching the sparkle of the ring. "May I see?" she asked, and Kate held her hand out with a smile she couldn't entirely contain. "Beautiful. You have excellent taste in jewelry, Mr. Castle. Of course, I knew that back when you accidentally slipped those earrings into my pocket instead of my detective's."

"You knew, and you still raked me over the coals?"

"Payback for trying to hide things from me," the captain answered with a mischievous smile. "And plausible deniability."

Castle and Beckett looked somewhat sheepish, but obviously still saw the humor.

"As for what we spoke about earlier, I've met with both contacts, and other meetings are scheduled for next week. I'll be in touch. And as for today, go home. I imagine the two of you have a lot to discuss."

"We do. Thank you, Sir," Beckett answered.

"'Night, Captain," Castle said with a smile.

As they walked to the elevator, Castle asked, "Is it 'later' yet?"

"Right after Lanie," Kate answered.

"Oh, yeah. We don't want to forget that," Castle answered. "That would be a disaster waiting for a place to happen."

"Then we'll indulge in 'later' at my place…it's closest," was Kate's answer. "After that, we talk?"

"Excellent scheduling, Detective," he answered as the elevator doors closed. Then he drew her against him for a kiss intended to remind her that she should stick closely to the schedule.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Kate called Lanie to let her know they were on the way to see her.

"No, it can't wait," Kate insisted, "but it won't take long."

"Okay," Lanie answered. "Mr. Goldman and I will be looking for you."

When Castle and Beckett arrived, Lanie was placing a spent bullet in a jar. She peeled off her gloves and asked with her hands on her hips, "What's so important that Mr. Goldman has to wait for the next step of the indignities I have to put him through?"

"This," Beckett answered with a smile, holding out her left hand. "Maybe he'd like to celebrate with us?"

Lanie squealed loud enough to wake Mr. Goldman, and hugged Kate to within an inch of her life. Then she went for Castle with the same treatment.

"Do you think she approves?" Castle asked, looking at his brand new fiancé.

"It's about time. You two have been dancing around this for years." Grabbing Kate again, the ME said enthusiastically, "I'm so happy for you," and looking at Castle over Kate's shoulder, she added, "for both of you." Stepping back, she asked, "Have you decided when?"

"Not yet. He caught me off guard, and there are other things to consider first."

"What about the job?"

"You told…" Castle started but used his self-control and let the question go.

Looking aghast, Lanie asked, "You didn't tell…"

"Lanie…" Kate interrupted. "I was wrong, it was stupid of me, and we're working through it."

"Katherine Beckett, you are damned lucky to have this man. See to it you don't forget that." Looking at Castle with respect, she said, "Keep being this good to her. The two of you belong together, and she'll figure out how to do this after a while. Whether she admitted it, even to herself, or not, she's been in love with you at least as long as you've been in love with her."

Castle smiled and put an arm around Kate's shoulders. "We'll let you get back to work," he told her. "We just wanted you to know."

Kate put an arm around Castle's waist and looked over at him as Lanie watched the two of them.

"And you both knew better than to forget, didn't you?" the ME asked pointing a threatening finger at them with her best Lanie air.

Both Castle and Beckett grinned at her, obviously not feeling even slightly intimidated; then Kate said, "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, we're due for a girl's night," Lanie agreed. "Call me when things settle down."

Kate gave her a little wave, and she and Castle left the morgue, arms still around one another.

"Did you hear that, Mr. Goldman?" Lanie asked as she snapped on a new pair of gloves and got back to the job at hand. "They finally came to their senses!"

xxxxx

When they reached Kate's apartment, the normal urge Castle would feel after an afternoon's anticipation of what was about to happen had softened from closing the door using their bodies to a long, soft loving kiss.

"I love you so much," Kate whispered, returning the kiss. It was still soft and loving, and was repeated several times as they exchanged those reassuring words they both needed to hear.

As they still stood in each other's arms, Castle asked, "Do we feel different to you now? I didn't think I could be any more in love with you, but hearing you say yes to a lifetime….seeing that ring on your finger…it takes us to a new place."

"Yeah, it does," she agreed. "I didn't think I could love you more, either."

"We sound like an abysmally bad romance novel," Castle pointed out with a grin.

"I don't care."

"Me, either."

He slid his hand to the back of her head and pulled it to his shoulder, resting his head on hers.

"I can't believe you're willing to turn your life upside down for me," she said softly.

"I love you. It's that simple."

"Nothing about this is simple. The job with the task force is a huge opportunity, but I don't ever want to lose this, either…us. It's the best part of my life; and now that I've had it, I can't imagine my life without you in it. If I have to make a choice, I'll give up the job."

"Weren't you listening? You don't have to make a choice, only a decision. You've already made the choice I needed, and you have a couple of days to decide about the rest. Today has been an eventful day. Why don't we stick to the schedule…celebrate first…unwind, then talk?"

"Okay," she answered with the smile she reserved only for Castle, leaning into him for another kiss.

They took their time, knowing that they had a lifetime ahead of them, staying near the front door holding one another and sharing kisses; and as feelings gradually heightened, they inched toward the bedroom to continue the celebration of their new commitment.

When the afterglow of "celebrating" began to fade, they were still in each other's arms, knowing they were operating under a deadline and needed to talk about the changes that could come in addition to their engagement; but neither of them was ready for that yet.

"We need to discuss things…calmly this time," Castle eventually mentioned. "Time isn't on your side where this job is concerned, and we should start with decisions before we can know what needs to be done."

Referring to Castle's earlier statement, Kate asked, "Isn't a choice the same thing as a decision?"

"Not when the big choice is already made." He rubbed her back as they lay there, arms and legs tangled together. "We made that choice this afternoon. Now we need the decisions to make it work."

"You said you'd be disappointed if I took the job. Other than the profoundly inept way I handled it, what are your biggest reasons?"

"I like living in New York, my family is here; my business interests are here, my home is here, I've built my life around it. And this is where I imagined the two of us living and working together after we were married. I thought we'd be partners on the job until you were a captain and..."

"You didn't say anything until after the task force offer came up, and that just happened in the past few days. How long have you imagined us being married?"

"At least a year," he answered, looking down at his hand self-consciously as he traced circles on the back of her shoulder. "Probably longer."

"How much longer?"

"Maybe another year?"

"Why didn't you say anything until now?" she asked softly, her hand still resting on his chest.

"I was afraid to push…afraid I might scare you away. And I hadn't done so well the first two times. I was afraid…"

Pushing herself up on one elbow and looking down at him, she admitted, "I've imagined it sometimes, too…for the last couple of years. You're the reason I stuck with the therapy, you know. I wanted to be somebody you deserved."

"To me, you always were."

She cuddled close against him with a contented sigh and trailed little kisses over his jaw and up to his lips, and he pulled her head to his shoulder and kissed the top of her head; that was enough for them for a while. Then Rick returned to the conversation they needed to have about the federal job.

"Talk to me about joining the task force. How much of it has something to do with Bracken?"

"Believe it or not, very little. I'll admit to thinking I might run across something to use against him, but I know I couldn't use it myself." She kissed his chest before telling him, "My deal with him included anybody I care about as well as me. I'm protecting _you_ now…and your family."

"Our family," Castle corrected.

"Our family," she agreed with a smile. "I can't go anywhere near Bracken's case."

"Then it's even better that Gates overheard you with McManus. You'll know somebody is working on it, and you'll still be safe."

"It's a relief…and a disappointment. I've wanted to solve it myself since I was twenty and realized nobody else was going to."

"I know…and I'm sorry you can't," he sympathized, rubbing her back again, "but I'm not sorry you're safe. And I'm not sorry somebody with better resources will be working on it before Bracken finds out how little we really have." He kissed her head again. "Now let's get back to the idea of Agent Beckett."

Kate rolled back over on her pillow, facing the ceiling; and Castle raised himself to one elbow, facing her, resting his head on his hand.

"Working for the Attorney General sounds like a good challenge," Kate began. "It's going to be demanding, though; that was made clear in the interview. It would be time consuming…call for a lot of travelling…a lot of new people to work with…long hours…a lot of changes for both of us. We wouldn't be working together anymore. I'd miss that."

"But you want the job, don't you?"

"I do," she answered quietly. Turning her head to look over at him, she asked, "Do you really think we can make it work?"

"When have we ever not been able to do something if we both set our minds to it?" he asked with his signature smirk.

"You're right," she answered with a more confident smile.

"I know," he said, just as confidently. "If you accept their job offer, when would you have to start?"

"A week from Monday."

"So you'd have to tell Gates in the next couple of days."

Kate moved up to prop on one elbow, facing Castle again. "It feels like an unbelievable opportunity, but I feel like I'm burning all my bridges. What if I'm not happy with the task force? What if I don't measure up? What if I'm making a mistake?"

"You're definitely going to measure up, it isn't a mistake to go for something you want badly, and if you're not satisfied with the job, you can quit. You're marrying a man with a lot of money, remember? You can leave them any time you want and be just fine. If you can't go back to start where you were with NYPD, we'll find something else…start a consulting business…or a security firm. We're good, Beckett. We could make that work, too. Another new challenge."

"Alexis Castle is a lucky kid. She got this kind of support all her life, didn't she?"

Castle's only answer to her obvious admiration was to move close enough to kiss her long and slow.

"I'm pretty lucky, too," she told him shyly. "You're quite a man, Richard Castle." That earned her another kiss.

"There's bound to be an orientation and a trial period for the task force…a probationary time for this job. They'll want to be sure you're working to their standards." Castle pointed out. "You don't have to tell them that you're watching to see if they're living up to yours, too. If the job doesn't meet your expectations by then, you quit, we move back to New York, and you'll know you gave it your best."

"You make it sound so easy."

"Easy is something it definitely won't be, but knowing your options will help, right?"

"Right."

"So we're ready to do this?" he asked.

"You're ready for all this change?"

"No, but as soon as we start making plans, I'll fall into it. Just don't leave me out again when you're considering life-changing plans, Kate. I deserve better."

"I know you do. There were a lot of conflicting things in my head then, and I chose the wrong ones to work with. I've been alone in my decisions for so long, it's hard to trust my life to somebody else."

"I know that. That's why this past year has meant so much to me…and why the past couple of days hurt so much. I thought we'd conquered that. Please trust me, Kate. I'm going to be right there beside you…always."

"I've never trusted anybody this much. Nobody ever cared enough to put up with my bad relationship skills this long, and I don't think I ever wanted them to."

"Their loss, thank goodness." He reached with his free hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "They were fools." That earned _him_ a kiss. "You'll talk to Gates tomorrow?"

"Yeah…and the boys."

"And Lanie?"

"Oh yeah. Definitely Lanie."

"While you do that, I'll make some phone calls…see if I can start moving on new living arrangements."

"You know a guy?" Kate asked with a little smirk.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "You know, I'm pretty sure I left a suit here after that last book signing. How would you feel about dressing up and going out for a romantic dinner tonight? I didn't give you a particularly romantic proposal."

"But it was a very effective proposal," she answered, dropping back to her pillow and wiggling the fingers of her left hand at him.

"Katherine Beckett is going to marry me," he said playfully. "Awesome!" Then he flopped down above her and blew a raspberry at the curve of her neck, bringing the laugh he loved hearing.

"So…a shower?" she asked, pushing him away.

"Not yet." After one more raspberry, he grinned and rolled back to his own pillow, took her hand and kissed it, and held their hands against his chest. "I'm pretty happy right here."

She planted a kiss on his shoulder and moved closer, letting him know she was, too.

After a few long moments of comfortable silence, Castle said, "We need to tell Paula that we're engaged. If she hears it from somebody else, we'll never live it down; and trust me, we don't want to be on that side of Paula."

"My low-profile job and your high-profile one will be quite a balancing act."

"We'll keep it away from the public as long as we can, but a year of keeping quiet about us is enough for me. I love you, and I don't want to hide it much longer."

"Me, either, but can we do a low-profile dinner tonight?"

"No problem. I'd rather have you all to myself anyway. We'll go where we can stay under the radar."

Castle's face suddenly took on the mischievous look that usually meant, 'Oh, I have an idea.'

"I probably can't reach Alexis now, so let's stay here a little longer and scandalously call our parents from bed; they'll never know that all our clothes are in the floor. I'll need to call Alexis, too," he said more seriously.

"But not from bed. That's just wrong. I don't think I could do that."

"No! Not from bed. Eeew!"Castle answered, and gave an exaggerated fatherly shudder.

"And Paula?"

"She can wait until tomorrow."

Rick leaned from the bed, took his phone from his pants pocket, brought up his mother's number, punched it in, and put the call on speaker. When it started ringing, Kate giggled and said "I feel like I should pull up the covers."

"What fun would that be?" he answered with a smirk, holding her hand so she couldn't reach for said covers. Then Martha answered and they gave her their news, receiving the exuberant response they both expected. After the three of them talked briefly, Castle said, "We're going to call Jim now, then we're going out for a nice dinner. We'll be back at the loft after that, so you can start planning your inquisition."

Kate picked up her phone and went through the same routine to reach her father; and as it was ringing, Rick muttered, "I see what you mean about the covers."

Kate grabbed his hand as he instinctively reached for a sheet. "What fun would that be?" she repeated with a mischievous grin.

Jim was as excited as Martha, but more subdued about it. They talked for a few minutes before Kate told him, "We're going to dinner, Dad, but we wanted to tell you and Martha first. I'll talk to you soon. Love you."

When they hung up, they laughed like ten year olds. "I can't believe we did that," she told Rick.

"It was a little more awkward than I thought it would be," Rick observed as the laughter wound down, especially when your father answered the phone.

"Soooo...having done that. What if Alexis calls…phones you when she tells you she's engaged?" Kate teased.

"Bite that evil tongue of yours. I'm going to insist that she needs to tell me in person…so I can see the joy on her face." He put air quotes around the 'see the joy' part of the sentence as he pronounced the words very distinctly. "I'll demand that she at least Skype's me. Why would you put such a thought in my head?"

Kate was laughing again.

"Is this what I should expect for life?" he asked playfully. "Putting things like that in my mind, and then laughing at me?" This time the raspberry was bigger and near her belly button.

Squealing in protest, she wiggled from under him and got out of the bed to start the shower. "Using some of those playboy moves there, Castle?" she asked over her shoulder.

Rick laughed and watched her for a moment, immeasurably pleased with himself that he could make the formerly staid Detective Kate Beckett play…squeal and laugh like a little girl over such simple, silly things.

He put on his boxers and shirt, and went into the kitchen to call Alexis, feeling a bit more fatherly now that he was covered. He knew where she was that day and had to leave a message, as he expected; but he was looking forward to hearing from her when she returned his call. He wanted her to give them her blessings…and to hear her bubbly excitement. He also called for dinner reservations, telling the restaurant owner it was a personal celebration.

xxxxx

The restaurant was nice, a place the couple had been several times in the past year when they wanted a nice evening out without revealing themselves to the public. The ambiance was lovely; and, as usual, they were given a table away from general view. Their dinner was quiet, romantic, and uninterrupted; the restaurant owner, a long-time acquaintance who appreciated Castle's continued business over the years, saw to that.

Afterward, they returned to the loft and talked to a supportive and inquisitive Martha Rodgers about the proposal and DC.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Alexis sent a text to her dad, letting him know when she would be home, and she arrived as Kate and Castle were talking to Martha.

"Darling, your father has some exciting news."

"Is that why you wanted me to call?" Alexis asked.

"It is," Castle answered with a smile.

"You look a lot happier than you did last time we talked. What's going on?"

"Show her, Kate."

Kate held up her left hand. "He asked me to marry him."

"It's about time," Alexis said enthusiastically, hugging both of them. "Dad, why didn't you tell me you were going to propose? Are you going to move in full-time now, Kate?"

There was a brief silence, and an immediate atmosphere of discomfort among the others in the room.

"Did I say something wrong?" Alexis asked, looking around at the three others. "I didn't mean to. I'm happy for you."

"No," Kate answered quickly. "You've said what I hoped you would. It's just that…"

"There's more to tell," Castle interrupted.

"What? Is it something bad?"

"No, but it's something that changes things. Kate has been offered a place on an exclusive federal task force. It's a major opportunity for her, and I've agreed she should take it. She's resigning from the twelfth on Monday."

"Wow! That's a big move. Congratulations, Kate. That should call for celebration, too; so why do I feel like there's something you're trying not to tell me?"

"The job is in DC," Castle said.

"DC?!" Alexis looked stunned. "So you're planning to get married and live in two different cities?"

"No. I'll be…"

"You'll be moving with her?!" she shouted. "No!" she turned angrily toward Kate and practically spat the words at her. "You told me you wouldn't try to come between my dad and me; but now you have him, and you're taking him to DC so you can have him all to yourself."

"Alexis," her father warned.

"How long have you known about this?" she asked both of them. "Why didn't you tell me you were thinking about it?" Looking back at Kate, she continued her tirade. "He was looking sad last time I talked to him…saying something about things not always turning out the way you want. He doesn't want to go, does he? What did you do this time? What else did he have to forgive before he could follow you wherever you want to go?"

"Alexis!" Castle stood. "You need to listen before you take this any farther."

"Why? It's all decided, isn't it? All done behind my back." Tears were falling as she finished her verbal assault. "She's not sharing you like we talked about. She's taking you away from me. You won't be here when I come home anymore. And you're trying to defend her."

"I'm not trying to…" Kate began, while Castle was simultaneously saying, "You have this all wrong, Honey. You need to hear us out."

"I've heard everything I need to hear." She turned and stormed up the stairs in tears.

Castle called after her and started to follow, but Martha waved him back, putting a restraining hand on his chest when he tried to follow his daughter anyway. "Let me talk to her this time," she insisted. "It probably won't do a lot of good tonight; but I have a better chance of getting her to listen right now. I'll let her cry it out first, and maybe after I explain a few things and she has a night to think about it, she'll be more willing to listen to the two of you."

"I hope so," he answered, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "Thank you, Mother. I didn't expect her to be happy about the move, but I certainly didn't expect that."

Martha patted his chest and reminded them, "You saw how happy she was when she thought you were going to be here in New York. She'll get back to that when she has the whole picture." Then she turned and followed her granddaughter upstairs.

Castle looked down at his fiancé, who was still sitting on the sofa looking down. "Kate, I'm so sorry. I really thought she'd listen."

"I put you in this place with her. I'm sorry, too. It's my fault. If I'd talked to you when I should have, you would have had time to talk to her first."

"Looks like you were right. Nothing about this is going to be easy."

She finally looked up at him. "Why didn't you tell her before you proposed?"

"She was in an all-day orientation workshop about the trip to Costa Rica."

His voice sounded confident, but Kate knew his tells; and his face said there was more.

"You could have sent her a text. So what else stopped you?"

He took a deep breath and released it, looking like a little boy who didn't want to admit something. "Maybe I didn't want to have to tell her if you turned me down."

She stood, put her arms around his waist, and sadly rested her head on his chest; and he brought his arms up around her, too. "You really thought I might turn you down?"

"It wandered through my mind," he mumbled against her hair.

"We need better communication skills, don't we? I didn't think you were going to ask. I thought you were happy with what we had…just 'dating'. It was more than that to me."

"Can we work on one communications crisis at a time? We got past most of ours this afternoon. Let's take care of the one with my daughter first, then we'll see how you and I could have misread each other so badly."

"Alexis definitely comes first," she answered, giving him a loving kiss. "And if she wants to talk tonight, she needs you. You wait up for Martha's report," she said, moving to pick up her things. "I'm going back to my place. Alexis doesn't need to wake up to me being here for breakfast."

"Kate…"

"No. She needs to talk to her father. She needs that reassurance first."

"But if we're going to be married, we need to take care of this sort of thing together."

"And we will, after we get her past tonight. I understand why she feels the way she does…why it would look that way to her…why she's so upset. Martha knows what she's doing. We'll let her pave a path for us so we can explain."

"You're not changing your mind about us, are you?"

"No. I'm not running away, Castle," she assured him. "I'm just strategically retreating for the night…giving the poor kid some space. She needs you, and she's afraid she's losing you. I love you, and I love Alexis…and I'll be back tomorrow, ready to talk when she is. I don't want to give up any of you. _Our_ family, remember?"

He was out of words, so he just held her tight before letting her go, and gave her another kiss before she left. After the door was closed, there were tears in the eyes of both partners, and a night of very little sleep looming ahead of them.

When Martha came down later, she found her son waiting on the sofa, leaning forward with his head down and his elbows resting on his knees and holding a half finished glass of scotch in his hands.

"So?" he asked, not looking up.

"She isn't ready to talk to you yet, but there's hope. Let her sleep on it, and try again tomorrow." Looking around, she asked "Did Katherine already go to bed?"

"She went back to her apartment," he answered, watching his hand as he ran one finger aimlessly around the edge of his glass.

"Oh, Richard, I'm sorry. She didn't…"

"She called it a strategic retreat. She said she understands why Alexis behaved that way. Some of the things Kate has done…I don't understand them, but I know she loves all of us, Mother. And I love her. I want her with me forever. My other marriages didn't feel like that. She's the woman I had given up on ever finding." He finished the last of his drink, put the glass on the table next to him, and finally looked at her. "I don't want to lose my daughter because I want a good life for myself when she's grown and building one of her own."

Martha moved over to sit beside her son and rubbed his back the way she did when he was a little boy. "You aren't going to lose either of them, darling. It just needs a little time to sort itself out. You and Katherine are going to have your good life, and Alexis is going to get back to being happy for that. Give her a day or two to come to her senses. Now why don't you try to get some sleep? You have a busy week ahead of you."

"You're probably right." He stood up and hugged Martha. "I love you, Mother. I know I give you a hard time about it sometimes, but I'm glad you're here."

"I know that, dear." She patted his cheek and said, "Now off with you. Time for bed."

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head before saying, "Yes ma'am," and heading for his room.

Martha smiled as she picked up the glass he had left behind and put it in the dishwasher before she headed for bed herself, detouring past Alexis' room to check on her granddaughter.

xxxxx

Kate was at the precinct early the next morning waiting to see Captain Gates.

As soon as she appeared at the captain's door, Gates said, "You're here to tell me you're leaving, aren't you?

"Yes, Sir."

"Have a seat, Detective." She paused and smiled. "I'll claim you until your paperwork is done. If you ever want to come back, I'll do everything I can to see that you're reinstated."

"I appreciate that."

"There are some big changes happening in your life right now…in both your lives. How is Mr. Castle holding up to all of it?"

"Astoundingly well, considering how badly I handled the task force issue."

"I won't ask; but I did notice that he was conspicuously absent for a day, and that you were conspicuously unhappy. However, considering that stunning piece of jewelry on your finger, the two of you have apparently worked it out. Will he be going with you?"

Kate simply nodded self-consciously, and looked down.

"Believe it or not, I'll miss him. He's a good man…would have made a good detective," Gates said. "I've come to have a great deal of respect for him."

"He might pass out from shock if he heard that," Beckett answered with a smile.

The captain smiled, too. "When I encouraged you toward this job, I wasn't aware of the full extent of your relationship with Mr. Castle. Take this new task force position and do your best with it…enjoy confronting the new challenges; but never forget to let him know how important he is to you. A good, challenging job is a wonderful thing, but there are a lot of those out there…easily available to someone with your abilities. What you seem to have with Mr. Castle doesn't come along too often, and that job won't love you or comfort you or be there beside you in your old age. I believe your fiancé will." Seeing an almost hidden look of surprise on Kate's face, she smiled again and leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers in front of her. "That didn't sound like Iron Gates, did it?"

Beckett chuckled and answered, "No, sir. But it sounds like the voice of experience. And Castle and I have talked about some of that."

"This job would be much more difficult without my husband. Despite the general opinion around here, I do have a human side." After a brief moment, Gates moved on. "Well, I suppose we should look at what we need to do before you leave us. Will today be your last day?"

"If that's acceptable. Yesterday we closed the last open case we had, so the timing is good. I wouldn't want to leave Ryan and Esposito in the middle of a case, and Castle and I have a lot to do in the next week. It's Thursday. I'd like to take today and tomorrow as vacation days, and I've brought a letter of resignation, stating Monday as the resignation date."

"I'll get the paperwork together for you. I have an appointment in half an hour; but if you could come in and drop it off sometime late this afternoon or tomorrow, we can have everything in order on Monday." She went to her file cabinet and took out an envelope with a packet of papers that applied to resignations, then she returned to her desk and pushed the envelope across the desktop to Beckett. "You can complete the forms at home and ignore anything that doesn't apply to your situation. If you have any questions or concerns about any of it, we can address those when you return them." The captain folded her arms in front of her and said, "I hate for the twelfth to lose you, but I don't want to hold you back."

"Thank you, Captain, for the high recommendation and the understanding…and for the good advice. I'll get these back to you tomorrow morning."

"That will be fine." As Beckett turned to leave, the captain called, "Oh. Detective?"

"Did I forget something?"

"That other packet we discussed? I have an appointment next week that will call for that information. Could you bring that along with your resignation forms?"

Beckett was bewildered at first, but quickly remembered the Bracken files. "Yes, Sir. Will do," she answered, sounding as nonchalant as possible. Then she went to talk to Ryan and Esposito. There was no one in the break room, so they sat at the little table and talked for about a minute before Esposito acknowledged the elephant in the room.

"You're going with the feds, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry to disappoint you," she said quietly, her eyes toward her coffee cup. "It's hard to leave here… especially to leave the two of you. It wasn't an easy decision, and the window of opportunity was…miniscule. I had to decide faster than I wanted."

"So we lose both of you, I guess," Ryan said sadly," you _and_ Castle. It's not going to feel right around here for a long time. When are you leaving?"

"Today and tomorrow will be vacation days. It's official on Monday."

"Do you really want to be one of those arrogant jerks who walks into a precinct full of perfectly capable cops and pulls the rug out from under them because it's 'need to know' only?" Javier asked, sounding a little angry. "You always hated that, and most of the time we solved it for them anyway."

"I don't plan to handle things that way. Maybe I can teach them how to do that part of the job better," she answered, looking up at him. Then turning to Ryan, she said, "It's both of us, Kev. The plan right now is that Castle is going with me until we both get settled, then he's splitting his time between here and there. Maybe he'll still come in to consult now and then, though. He'd like it that you still want to include him, even if he can't get here when you call." After pausing thoughtfully, she said, "I could be away for days at a time, and he'll have book tours now and then, and both of us will be splitting time between here and there when we can. We're going to have to work hard at this."

"Be sure you work at it as hard as he does, Beckett," Ryan answered. "If he doesn't treat you right, we'll drive to DC and take care of it; but he's like our big brother now, and he hasn't wanted anybody but you for a long time. He deserves the best you can give him."

"Yeah. What he said," Esposito responded, looking relieved that he didn't have to say something so un-macho himself, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Thanks for looking out for him," Beckett said as she stood. "We both love you for it. Want to get all of us together sometime before we leave?"

"That would be good." and "Yeah, sure." came from the boys simultaneously.

"Okay. We'll work it out and call you. She picked up her purse and her envelope, took a deep breath, looking like she might cry, and told them, "I'm gonna go see Lanie now."

As she walked toward the elevator, Esposito watched. "Man, I thought if the team broke up it would be because she made lieutenant…or maybe captain, not because she joined the feds. _And_ she's getting married. I wanted to give her a hard time for deserting us, but I figure she's got enough on her plate without that."

"She never did do things halfway," Ryan agreed. "I couldn't rag her about it, either. How do you give her a hard time when she looks like she might cry? Beckett doesn't cry."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Castle was up early. He hadn't slept well, and coffee sounded like a good plan. He hadn't stopped worrying about Alexis during any waking moment. When the coffee was ready, he filled his 'Best Dad in the World' mug and sat down at the breakfast bar to think about what he could do while he waited for his daughter to appear. He knew Kate planned to be at the precinct that morning, so she wouldn't be there to distract him. He finished his coffee and took a long, hot shower, hoping that Alexis would be up by the time he was dressed for the day…and would be willing to talk to him.

When he returned to the kitchen, fully dressed and ready for more coffee, Alexis was there, also dressed for the day and apparently leaving.

"Where are you going, Pumpkin? Can we talk before you leave? You misunderstood some things last night."

"Not now," she answered, still looking angry. "I'll be back later."

"Where are you going so early?"

"Nineteen now, Dad, remember? I'll be back." She had reached the door by then and left the loft.

Castle sat down at the breakfast bar again, growling as he ran his fingers through his hair, angry and frustrated himself.

xxxxx

Alexis got out of the cab at the morgue and went directly to Lanie's office.

"Dr. Parish?" she called as she entered the room.

"Hey, Alexis. I was surprised to get your text so early. What's on your mind? I guess you've heard the good news by now. Are you excited?"

"Not exactly."

"Is that what this visit is about?"

"Yes," Alexis answered with an annoyed little pout.

"Uh-oh. Better sit down and tell me about it."

"How could she do this? I thought I could trust her now."

"Are we talking about Kate? I thought you were glad they were finally together. Maybe you'd better start at the beginning."

Alexis told Lanie her view of the situation and what Martha had tried to tell her the night before.

"So you blame all this on Kate?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"Knowing she'd had the job interview, your dad still surprised her by proposing and is planning to go with her to get settled in DC. As I understand it, your dad will be splitting his time between here and there, and she'll be back here as often as she can manage. She isn't trying to keep him all to herself. They don't have everything worked out yet. I imagine that's the reason she's resigning as of Monday."

"But they hid it from me. I deserve to know things like that."

"Honey, the offer came up just a couple of days ago. They had a huge argument about it, and your dad probably didn't want to bother you with it. My best guess is that he hadn't planned on that proposal right now, but that may be for the best. The rate those two have moved in this relationship, they needed something to get them on track. But, no matter how bad it's been before, they've always ended up back together…where they belong."

"I guess I jumped to conclusions, huh?"

"Probably. They both love you, and they aren't likely to leave you out. I can guarantee you that. So maybe you should talk to them again…and give them a chance to fill you in."

"They must have taken time to fill you in."

"What I know is mostly courtesy of Javier Esposito, and mostly because he and Ryan were there when a lot of it was happening. That and a little reading between the lines. Even they didn't know what was going on, just that something was wrong. Kate and Castle didn't have the luxury of time on their side to do everything the way they would have wanted to. And you did say your dad tried to call you."

"He did. And I blew it off and went to dinner with my friends. I just sent him a text and told him when I'd be home. I did everything all wrong, didn't I?"

"Well…probably a lot of it."

"I have plans with a friend this morning. She's leaving tomorrow to visit her dad for the summer, so we're spending the morning together and having lunch before she goes home to finish packing. After lunch, I'll go back to the loft and talk to them."

"Now that sounds more like my grown-up minded, sensible intern. Come here and give Aunt Lanie a hug."

Alexis wrapped her arms around her mentor and said, "Thank you for listening. I needed somebody to set me straight again." Releasing Lanie and getting ready to leave, she added, "I think I owe Kate an apology."

"I expect she understands, hon. She lost her mom when she was your age, and then lost her dad to the bottle for a few years, too. She knows something about how scary it is to see important people leaving you. You won't have to worry about hard feelings from her."

"I hope not. I've made a mess of things."

"Well, enjoy your friend, then go home and fix it."

"I will. Bye." Alexis smiled and waved as she left, then she took a cab to Buttons' apartment to start their morning; but on the way, she sent her dad a text to let him know when she'd be home.

xxxxx

When Kate entered the loft the latter half of the morning, she called out, "I'm back."

"In the study," Castle answered.

She went straight to the study and bent down to kiss him. "I told all of them. I knew it would be hard, but it was much harder than I thought."

He reached an arm out, snagged her around the waist, and pulled her into his lap. "Anything I can do to help?"

"You're doing it." She turned her head to give him an appreciative kiss. "It seems everybody has figured out that I'm the weak half of this relationship," she said, snuggling against him with her head on his shoulder.

He wrapped his arms around her sympathetically and asked, "What happened?" as he peered down to see her face.

"I've had three people, in various ways, tell me I'd better treat you right…the second time for Lanie, and a 'Yeah. What he said,' from Javi. Even Gates was part of it. She actually said nice things about you…and that she'll miss you."

"No way!"

"Scout's honor."

"Hmmm… You weren't a scout, either, were you?"

"No," she answered with a grin, "but it's still the truth."

"I told you I'd get to her eventually," he said with a smirk. Looking at what Kate held in her lap, Castle asked, "What's in the envelope?"

"Resignation paperwork."

"Sounds pretty final.'

"Feels pretty final. I'll call DC in a little while…find out what they need from me before I can start."

"As soon as we know when we're leaving, I'll book a hotel suite for a week. I know a couple of good places." He paused for a moment. "I called my guy this morning." He both heard and felt Kate's little chuckle at that and smiled. "He's looking for some furnished places we can rent short term. If you love the job and want to stay, we'll look for a more permanent place. He's going to have a list of possibilities to show us when we get there."

"It's looking more real. It's kind of scary."

"We'll be together. It's never as scary when we tackle it together."

"Don't let me ruin us, Castle. I love you. I love us. Can we agree that neither one of us will ever walk out on an argument again…go to our own corners to cool down if we need to, but never walk away?"

"Deal. We both need to grow up on that front, and I love you, too…and us."

"I'm going to get some coffee and work on these resignation forms. Do you want some?"

"Yeah. Thanks." He handed her his mug, and she took it and went to the kitchen.

Kate had watched him draw a heart in her coffee a few times when she was at the loft, and decided it was her turn. She wasn't entirely happy with the result; but it was recognizable, not bad for a novice effort.

"Here you go," she said, placing the steaming mug of coffee in front of him.

"You made me a heart!" He looked so pleased she felt tears rising, but she tamped them down and said, "It isn't as pretty as yours, but I'll learn."

"Thank you. It looks perfect to me."

"Well, I've always heard that love is blind," she answered with a grin. "Enjoy. I'm going to get started on these forms." She gave him a little peck on the lips before she took the paperwork to the breakfast bar to work on it.

During the rest of the morning and into early afternoon, they periodically talked about the logistics of their moving to DC. They decided she would keep her apartment, at least until things stabilized. That would also avoid having to put everything in it in storage. It wouldn't be a problem for Castle to take care of that; it was just one more thing on a growing list of necessary tasks that wouldn't have to be dealt with immediately.

As the list grew, Kate began to argue that she would take care of the moving expenses, and Castle argued that she wouldn't need to. They had sat down on the sofa, facing each other for the conversation they were now having.

"We wouldn't have to do all this if it weren't for me. You're already arranging things to make it easier for us when we get there."

"I've never let anyone else… Kate, I've been the man of the house for so long that I don't know how to have a family without taking care of the costs that go with it. Do you have any idea how much money I have?"

"No. I know it's a lot, but I don't care about your money. It's you I want."

"Do you _want_ to know how much money I have?"

"No!" She looked close to horrified. Seeing Castle's quizzical look after her response, she explained, "I'm sure it would scare me to death."

"One day before long, you're going to have to know. We're going to need to see my attorney and my accountant, and arrange power of attorney and access to my legal arrangements and insurances and business matters. If anything happened to me, you'd need to be able to take care of things. You're going to be my wife, remember?"

"In my imaginings, I hadn't thought much about the money and legal stuff. I mostly thought about being with you and Alexis and Martha; and I shoved everything else under the rug."

"It's something you'll have to work out. I can easily afford to take care of us, Kate. If you decide you don't want to work, you never have to. We could travel…a jaded rich couple wandering the world. But I think I know you better than that."

"I don't think I could just stop working…at something. I need a purpose."

"I know, but travelling now and then would be nice, right?

"As long as you don't show off enough to break something again," she answered with a smirk.

"Hey, it got me a great birthday present. And you got together and worked with my family to do it. Seeing that was as much of a gift as the party."

"I love them, too, Castle. I'm not sure exactly when that happened. I always liked them; but one day, there was a moment when I was thinking about them, and I...I just knew."

"It means a lot to me that you fit in like family here. They love you, too; Mother seems to think you're the daughter she never had. You already belong to us, a wedding will just make it official."

"Will they still love me when you're in DC with me because of a job that I wanted? What do we do about Alexis?"

"My mother was backing you up already, so Alexis is the unknown factor. I think she'll be okay with it before long. The ice may already be melting a little. She sent a text saying when she'd be home."

"When will she be here?"

"About half an hour."

"I don't want to put any more strain on _our_ relationship with her. It's 'we' now, and that's going to affect her, too."

"As long as she knows she's included in 'we', it should be all right."

"That won't be a problem on my end."

"Whether she tells you or not, she likes having you here, Kate. She likes having a woman to talk to…one who listens as if what she says is important. And I love you a little more every time I see it…for being there when her mother isn't."

"And how can I do that in DC?"

"That's what phones are for. Right?"

"Keep telling me we can make this work, Rick. I'm already a wreck from worrying about it."

Interspersing the phrase with little kisses to her cheeks, her eyes, her mouth, her chin, her shoulders…Castle assured her, playfully, "We can make this work. We can make this work. We can make this work. We…"

By the third kiss, she was smiling again and pulled him down for a few minutes of making out on the sofa before getting back to the business of decision making.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

True to her text, Alexis was back at the loft when she said she would be. She came in looking much more subdued than she did when she left.

"Hi," she said quietly when she saw Kate and Castle on the sofa, and they both greeted her as if her accusations toward Kate had never been made.

Kate moved away from Castle and made a space for Alexis between them. "Come join us?" she asked, patting the empty space beside her.

"I don't deserve for you to be that nice to me," Alexis answered. "Kate, I owe you a huge apology."

"Not necessary," Kate responded. "I understand."

"Dr. Parish said you would. I knew she'd be in early," she said as she sat down, looking embarrassed. "I went and talked to her before I met Buttons this morning."

"So that's where you went in such a hurry?" Castle asked.

"Yeah. I was too stubborn to tell you I was trying to work it out."

"Wonder where she got that?" Kate commented with a smile.

Castle laughed and pulled Alexis to him for a kiss on the forehead, then Kate held her arms out and Alexis hugged her tightly, a few tears falling as she apologized again. "I'm so sorry I said all those things."

"It's okay. I can see how it would look like that to you. Do you want to start over and hear everything now?"

"Yeah. That would be good."

Castle put an arm around Alexis' shoulders, and Kate had one hand resting comfortingly on her arm.

"First," Castle began, "Kate and I are getting married."

"And I'm happy for you. You should have done that already."

"Second, Kate got a practically once-in-a-lifetime offer from an under the radar federal task force. It's a big step in her career, and she deserves the opportunity to take it; and if I'm going to be her partner for life, I need to back her up the same way I've backed you up. It doesn't mean I won't still be around to do that for you, too."

Alexis just nodded, looking down as she listened.

"We're going to spend some time in DC while she's getting herself established in the new job, and we'll be finding a place to live; but we've already decided that we won't even consider a place that doesn't have a room to call yours any time you want to be there. We're not trying to leave you out, understand?"

She nodded again, and her dad continued.

"There will be a lot of travelling in Kate's job, and with the new book coming out in about three months; I'll be doing some travelling, too. We're going to have to work hard at a marriage, but neither of us wants to give up. We'll figure it out as we go. I'll be in DC part-time and here part-time. We still have a lot of decisions to make, and having you on our side while we do that will make it a lot easier. We're open to ideas if you have them."

"You're part of the Richard Castle package, Alexis…you and Martha. I expect to marry into the family, not to just marry your father."

"That's what Grams said last night. She said you're the first woman who wanted to marry the man, not the man's image and money…that you're the only one he's completely trusted with me. I know she's right, and I want you to marry the whole family, too."

"One more thing we agree on," Kate answered.

"None of this was something we intended to do behind your back, honey," her father assured her. "The interview offer came just a couple of days ago, and…"

"And you were right," Kate interrupted. "I handled it badly and hurt your dad again…another fight and more to forgive, but we've worked through that for the time being. My intentions weren't at all bad, but they weren't as well thought out as they should have been. I'm still learning how to have a good relationship, and your father loves me enough to tolerate that. I don't know where he finds that much patience."

"Kate had some reasons to feel hurt, too. We're working on it," Castle added in her defense. And we'll keep working at it. We're not giving up."

"There wasn't much time to make decisions," Kate explained. "The interview offer came out of the blue, and the job offer was close on its heels, I had to talk to your father to know where we stood…and I had to give them an answer by this afternoon."

"It must have been some interview," Alexis said with a little smile. "You must have made quite an impression."

"Does that surprise you?" Castle asked.

"No. I'd be surprised if they didn't offer her the job," Alexis answered. "Kate's impressive."

Castle smiled and looked over his daughter's head at Kate, mouthing, "Told you so."

She smiled back and squeezed Alexis' arm, saying, "Thank you. You're pretty impressive yourself."

"I wasn't so impressive last night."

"Different kind of impressive last night," Kate said, pushing at her shoulder to be sure Alexis knew she was joking, then she moved her arm to the back of the sofa to stroke her almost stepdaughter's hair. "You were hurt and worried last night. I know what that's like, so it's history we never have to revisit, Okay?"

"Okay."

"You'll be gone most of the time we're initially in DC, so you won't miss us then. You leave next Sunday morning. Kate starts with the task force that Monday," Castle told his daughter. "We'll be back here Friday night, see you off on Sunday, then drive back to DC in the afternoon. By the time you get back from Costa Rica, things should be in better shape. Then we can all work at it together. Now that we have the vague outline of a plan, we'll keep you informed…promise."

"Will you send pictures of the places you're looking at?"

"Sure. You can fly down and look at them with us if you want. We'll take you when we've narrowed it down to two or three…maybe Wednesday?" Castle kissed the top of her head and asked, "So are we okay again?"

"We're okay. I should have listened last night and saved us all the drama."

"History," Kate repeated. "We'll come and get you when we're talking about plans again. A third point of view can't hurt."

"I'm going to change clothes and read for a while…get out of your hair. Let me know if you want help with dinner." She stood and started toward the stairs, and the two adults got up with her; then she turned and came back to hug Kate. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"Nothing for your father?" Castle asked in mock despair.

"I love you, Dad," she said with a smile at his silliness.

"I love you, too."

She smiled at both of them and went up to her room.

Kate's hand went to her throat, and she sighed loudly, looking as relieved as she did at the party when Castle finally made it clear he liked the surprise. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked them back and forth a few times before he kissed her and asked, "Feel better now?"

"Oh, yeah. I've made the move from stealing her father to being impressive." She released another loud sigh, slid her arms around his waist, and squeezed him hard.

He laughed and asked, "Would you like to walk off a little of this angst? We could go down the block to the coffee shop."

"We should see if Alexis wants to go, too. Things went too well to leave her out now."

"Walking about halfway up the stairs, Castle called out, "Alexis, do you want to go to the coffee shop with us?"

Alexis came to the top of the stairs and turned them down. "No. I'll stay here. I've caused enough of a stir; just go and unwind. I'm good."

"We won't be too long," Kate told her.

They walked to the coffee shop hand in hand, enjoying the relief that they were back in Alexis' good graces.

"We still have a lot of things to work out, but that was the big one. I feel so much better," Beckett sighed.

"Me, too," he answered, looking over at her. "This feels good, too…holding your hand and not feeling like we should be hiding it. I guess I need to call Paula when we get back."

"She's probably going to want to work a big announcement into the promotion for the next book, isn't she?"

"More than likely. Think you can handle that on top of everything else? You should talk to your new boss about it. They didn't know I'd be part of the deal."

"They should take advantage of your being part of the deal. You're a good asset, and you've been cleared before…by the FBI and the CIA…in spite of the police horse…and some youthful indiscretions."

"I'm never going to live down that horse, am I?"

"Nope." She flashed him a big grin.

They ordered coffee at the shop and sat at a table to enjoy it, talking a little and people watching…being comfortably together…more certain of each other.

After relaxing for a while, Kate reluctantly said, "I need to call and let them know I'm accepting. We should probably go back. You can call Paula, and I'll call Friedman."

As they left to walk back home, Castle suggested, "Why don't you tell him we'll be flying in on Monday to find a place to live. See how he responds. Or ask for a short meeting so you know what to expect. You weren't anybody's fiancé when you had the interview."

"I might do that…ask for a meeting while we're there."

"I can arrange a car service while we're there next week, and we can drive back later so we have a car to get out of the city when you have time."

"You're a planner from way back, aren't you?"

"Can't help myself. If there's a project, it needs a plan."

She put her arm around his waist and said, "You lead on this one, then. I'll worry about the new job…and my new fiancé."

"Yeah?" he asked, looking delighted, and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah."

Phone calls made and notes compared on the responses to fiancés, Castle and Beckett decided to call Alexis to help with dinner.

"Let me go up to get her," Kate said.

"I love that you want to do that," Castle answered appreciatively.

"She's going to be a little bit mine, isn't she?"

"I hope so."

"Then I'll be back in a few minutes," she told him as she walked to the stairs. Turning back, she said, "Oh…I meant to mention it earlier. The Captain asked me to bring what you have on your computer when I take my paperwork in tomorrow. I'd like to be able to meet her where we can talk freely before we have to leave, and I'd like to get together with the team before Sunday, too."

"I'll get everything Gates needs while you're upstairs. And maybe we could get everybody together this weekend."

"Why don't we include our youngest red-head in that decision…find out what she has planned."

"I really like hearing you say 'ours' about almost anything."

"Well, hold on to that thought while I go and get some help to make _our_ dinner."

Kate sat down to talk with Alexis for a few minutes, which gave Castle time to package the printed pages and stick drive Beckett needed to take along with her paperwork the next morning. Then the three of them put together a simple dinner and sat down to enjoy it, feeling very much like a family.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Beckett strode into the precinct toward Gates' office on Friday morning to deliver her packets to the Captain.

"Good morning, Detective. I assume you have everything we need."

"It's all here," she said, putting the two envelopes on the desk.

"Thank you. I know this seems unnecessary, but I'd like you go to your desk and fill out these forms, too. While you do that, I'll check the others. We don't want to slow you down because something was missing."

Kate looked at the new documents. "Captain?"

"I gave you a hell of a recommendation, Detective Beckett. Humor me."

"Yes, Sir," she answered with a smile and did as she was told.

Returning the completed papers, she asked Captain Gates, "Is that everything?"

"Looks like it, except turning in your shield and your weapon…and returning your vehicle to the garage. You'll stay in touch, won't you? Let us know how the new job is working out?"

"I will. Martha and Alexis will be out until late. Would you be free to stop by Castle's loft for a drink after work? I know he'd like to say good-bye," she said placing the two requested items on Gates' desk with some sadness in her look.

"I think I can do that," the captain answered, showing her understanding of the invitation by patting the larger envelope Beckett had brought in. "I'll call when I leave here."

"We'll be there. Any time is fine. I won't hold you up any longer. I'm sure you have work to do."

On the way out Beckett stopped to see some of the other detectives who were in the building at the time, explaining the short window of opportunity and saying only that she would be working with a small FBI unit in DC. Leaving a trail of surprise behind her and bringing one of good wishes with her, she stopped to see Ryan and Esposito.

"We just got a body," Esposito told her as they walked into the open elevator and pushed the button. "Come down with us. Some of us still have to work today."

"We just got a text from Castle about tomorrow afternoon. He sent Lanie one, too. I'm calling Jenny on the way."

"Are you coming?"

"I will…and I don't think she has anything else planned."

"Good. See you tomorrow, then." She gave them a teasing smirk and said as the doors opened, "Have fun at the crime scene."

"Did you hear something, Bro'?" Esposito asked as he walked away, conscientiously ignoring Beckett.

"Nope. You?" Ryan answered, picking up the game as they got in their car.

Beckett smiled and left to turn her cruiser in at the garage.

After leaving the garage, she called Castle to see if he'd meet her for lunch at a diner on the corner. When he arrived, he found her in a back booth, facing away from most of the lunch crowd looking as if she might cry any minute.

"That rough?" he asked, sliding in beside her and putting his arm around her.

"I don't have a shield or a gun, and I just left my car at the garage. I don't know who I am anymore." She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You're my very much loved fiancé," he answered. "Soon to be Agent Beckett…complete with new shield, new weapon, and bigger credentials...possibly even a new vehicle. If they don't give you one, I will."

She parted with a short little laugh and kissed his cheek. "You always know how to make it better."

"And just think. You have a lifetime of that to look forward to," he answered with an egotistical little smirk before kissing her forehead.

She laughed again. "It isn't Remy's, but the burgers here are pretty good."

Moving to the other side of the table to sit across from her, he promised, "I'll even order extra fries so you can steal them from me."

"Gates is going to stop by after work for a drink…and to tell us where things stand on the package I took her this morning."

"I have to admit, I'm looking forward to that. I hope she knows what she's doing."

They had lunch and walked to a quiet little park not far away where they sat in the shade and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a while before going back to the loft and the pressure of planning the next few days.

Gates called when she left the precinct and arrived at the loft about half an hour later. They sat at the dining table and talked with a bottle of wine open between them.

"Have you spoken to your contacts?" Castle asked her.

"I have, and I'm satisfied…both that I can still trust them completely and that they took the accusations seriously. Apparently there have been occasional rumors about Bracken's methods, but they've been quickly quashed and had no proof to back them up. No one seems willing to talk."

"Wonder why," Beckett asked sarcastically, taking a bigger than normal drink from her glass.

"Knowing there was a Dubai account involved in paying at least one of the hit men, the CIA can work on tracking that payment to its source and looking for foreign contacts. I'll need that evidence bag with what's left of the files. The FBI may have more luck reconstructing the pieces than you did. I'm meeting with the FBI contact on Tuesday to deliver the packet you provided and to answer any questions it might create. They plan to look into McManus' claim about Bracken's involvement in his son's death and to follow up on some of the other rumors…and they are aware of the…problematic nature of your agreement with Bracken. They'll see to it that any movement on this is handled with the utmost care."

"You're sure…" Castle started.

"I'm sure. My family will be at risk, too, remember?"

"So it's begun," he answered, reaching for Kate's hand.

"Thank you, Captain," Kate said sincerely. "I hate that we've involved someone else we care about, but you're right. Bracken has to be stopped…and we can't do it alone…not without getting us all killed."

"I'm glad you've finally realized that. Now, if we can just keep you alive until he can be exposed for what he is…"

"I'll drink to that," Castle answered, raising his glass; and the two women raised theirs along with him.

"Well, on that cheerful note, I'll go home to my husband now," the captain stated, placing her glass on the table and standing. "Thank you for the wine. It was delightful." As they walked her to the door, she commented, "I don't suppose I'll see you for a while. I'll miss both of you."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Castle said. "Wait here for just a minute." He came back a few minutes later with a package the size of a large shoe box, wrapped beautifully, and handed it to the Captain. "A parting gift," he explained.

When she opened the lid of the box she found two Gemini dolls lying on velvet, replacements for the ones that were broken.

"I've had people looking for them since I broke the others, but it took a while to find them. I'd planned on giving them to you for your birthday, but we'll be gone by then. Your collection is complete again. And I took the liberty of repackaging them…tucked them in above a bed of puzzle pieces."

"I don't know what to say, Mr. Castle…other than thank you." She seemed dumbfounded. "And the repackaging…well played. Nothing that looks suspicious."

Castle leaned and kissed her on the cheek, saying, "We'll miss you, too."

Kate hugged her briefly, and then Gates went home, leaving them alone.

"Do you think they'll be able to prove anything?" Kate asked.

"I hope so," Castle answered. "Bracken is worse than scum."

Kate leaned into him for comfort, and he put his arm around her waist. Turning her toward his study, he said, "We have the whole place to ourselves for at least three more hours. Why don't we see what we can think of to distract ourselves from Bracken?"

She took his hand and pulled him into the bedroom.

The week ahead of them quickly became a blur as it unfolded. It held too many emotions to express…excitement, sadness, insecurity, joy, annoyance, doubt, worry, exuberance… There were times when the newly engaged couple hardly knew what to do with themselves.

On Saturday morning, they were at Kate's place, closing the apartment for a while and deciding what to take for the week and what to leave for the next weekend's packing.

Saturday afternoon, the team from the precinct was there until evening, and Martha and Alexis joined the party for most of the get-together. Before they left, Kate and Castle told them about Gates' visit, and there was some relief that proving Bracken guilty of multiple murders wouldn't be on them anymore. They all wanted to nail him to the wall, and believed they probably could if they kept at it; but they didn't want to lose any of their friends over it.

Saturday night the couple made the same packing decisions at Castle's loft, then they fell into bed, exhausted, and slept like the dead until morning.

Sunday was calmer. Alexis helped Martha make breakfast, and the four of them spent a lot of the morning talking. Kate and Castle periodically were checking to do lists, looking for things they might have forgotten.

After a few sessions with "the lists," Martha said in exasperation, with her typical hand flourishes, "For heaven's sake, darlings. If you've forgotten something, just buy a replacement. You can afford it. Just be sure you have all your identifications and legal proof of your," there was another big flourish as she searched for a word, "whatevers."

That stopped them in their tracks. "You know what? She's absolutely right," Castle stated. "Let's make sure we have all the legal documents we'll need and I'll get the rest of the luggage in the car. I have a driver coming in an hour to take us to the airport and return the car to the parking garage. If we forget anything else, we'll replace it or pick it up next weekend."

With that decided, they sat down to calmly spend the time left with Martha and Alexis.

"That stir wasn't about being afraid you'd forget something," Martha commented. "It was fear of the unknown. You're both going to be just fine, but it's going to be a busy week."

"You're right," Kate admitted. "I don't know about your son, but I'm a nervous wreck."

"I'm excited to see where you'll be living," Alexis said.

"So are we," Castle answered. "You'll see what we've found when you get there on Wednesday."

"So I can see my new room," she answered with a smile.

They talked for a while longer before Castle moved to take the luggage to the car. Kate insisted on helping, then they went back to the loft to say their goodbyes. By the time they reached the parking garage again, their driver was waiting; and in no time, they were off to the airport.

After checking into the hotel suite Castle had arranged for them, they settled in, ordered dinner and a bottle of wine and enjoyed the quiet after the storm, knowing another tempest would be underway the next day.

First thing Monday morning, Kate met with Friedman asking to be apprised of anything she needed in order to be prepared for the following week. The deputy director introduced her to Stack's team leader…her new team leader, she realized; and the two of them filled her in on what to expect. When asked why she was in town so early, she made sure to mention her fiancé had arranged to see some apartments so they could have a place to live by the time she started the job. She was certain they already knew that her fiancé would have to be Castle, but no one seemed to see it as a game changer. She felt better, then; there was a little less of the unknown to worry about.

The rest of the day was spent with Castle's guy, Randall Prescott…Randy…a man who had worked with real estate for decades and had access to places that weren't publicly listed, as well as those that were. He had lined up seven possibilities that he thought would fit the criteria Castle had given him and took them to tour all seven of them in the course of two days. Castle made a video of each with his phone before they left them…except for the two they walked into, looked at one another and said, "No."

Back at the hotel, after an exhausting day, they again indulged in dinner delivered by room service and watched the videos until they had narrowed the field to two choices. Alexis joined them on Wednesday and went with them when they saw the last two again. It wasn't necessary to the process, but it felt good for the family.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Museum of Natural History. Castle said he and Alexis had never been to DC without visiting the dinosaurs and Alexis insisted they needed pictures with Kate in them this time. Kate laughed…sometimes rolled her eyes…as she watched both of her Castles turn into grown-up children in their exuberance at showing her all their favorite exhibits, and their lamentations that a couple of them weren't there this time. They all returned to the hotel after dinner, tired but happy and made a final decision about the apartments. Alexis left the next morning to return to her own packing and to do lists.

Castle asked for a copy of the lease before they went home for the weekend, and Randy delivered it late that morning. The two men discussed a few things Castle wanted to have taken care of before they moved in, even pointed them out in the videos. Randy took note of each one, promised to bring it to the attention of the owner, shook hands with Castle, and wished them a safe flight. Their plane left early that afternoon, and they were back at the loft in time for the movie night Alexis had asked for.

The weekend flew by…filled with family time and the last minute packing for the move to DC and the trip to Costa Rica. All three travelers said good-bye to Martha when they left the loft. Kate and Castle saw Alexis off with her travel group, and then they started the drive to DC, both of them simultaneously excited and nervous.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

After driving to DC from New York, Castle and Beckett returned to their suite at the hotel and unpacked enough for the next few days. When they finished that task, they sat down on the sofa, propped their feet up, and relaxed for a while. Within the week, they hoped to be in their new apartment where they could put things away for at least several months.

Castle's phone rang about an hour after they arrived; Randy was calling to let Castle know that the owners of the apartment had agreed to all but one of his conditions. He put the phone on speaker to include Beckett. Castle didn't hesitate to tell Randy that he had found no issues with their second choice; and as much trouble as they had deciding, he was certain they would be just as happy with that one.

"Is the other place still available?" he asked.

"Yes, it is," Randy answered.

"Then talk to the first owners tomorrow morning. If they don't want to take care of that particular problem, it's a deal breaker. The kitchen is important in our family. If they don't want to do that, look into Plan B. Call when you know one way or the other and let us know what our new address will be."

"Will do."

"Thanks, Randy. I appreciate how efficiently you've worked on this."

"No problem. I'll be in touch tomorrow."

When Castle hung up, Kate was looking at him with a smile. "Look at you, all tough and businesslike, but still exuding good will. Checking the lease over the weekend. A new side I hadn't seen."

"I complain about Gina and Paula hounding me and giving me a hard time…which they do; but when it's time to get down to business, I know how. They don't take advantage of anything I haven't decided I can allow."

"Again, I might be impressed."

"I like impressing you," he said with a smile, giving her a quick kiss. "I think we still have about half a bottle of wine chilled. Shall we?"

Kate nodded, and he left the couch and returned with two glasses and the bottle. Between them, they finished most of it as they talked about plans for the next day.

"Are you excited?" he asked.

"And a little insecure," she admitted. "I know I can do the job, but everything is so new. I don't want to do something so stupid that they wonder if they've made a mistake."

"They know what they're getting, and they know better than to wonder any such thing. You just walk in there with confidence and show them what you can do."

"It isn't that late, but I'm tired. Why don't we take a shower and get some sleep? It's going to be a busy week."

"You can always talk me into a partners shower," he answered with a little eyebrow wiggle.

"Then come on. Let's see if you can impress me again."

xxxxx

The first week of Beckett's work for the task force was full of testing, qualifying in various areas, and orientation. The first day involved introductions, a tour of the work area and equipment available to them, and a lot of boring paperwork, which would become part of her record. The following day was spent almost entirely in qualifying in training exercises and weapons, which she passed with no problem. And next there was in-house instruction on policies and practices, on which she would be tested at the end of the week.

After she had studied the manual a while, Castle insisted on helping. "Tell me when you're ready, and I'll ask you questions."

"That might help. I'll mark the ones you need to ask me more than once. Those are the ones giving me trouble."

About half an hour later she told him she was ready. "That's pretty quick. I thought you didn't have to take the test until Friday."

"I don't, but it doesn't mean I'm not ready. A lot of it is common sense for law enforcement. Some of it is similar to police procedures, and the rest is marked for extra attention."

After a thorough questioning, Castle proclaimed, "When you take this test, they're all going to be amazed at your awesomeness."

Kate laughed. "I hope so. Thanks for the help. Did you hear from Randy today?"

"I did, and we have an apartment."

"Plan A or Plan B?"

"Plan B. We still have everything we wanted, with the added benefit of a more cooperative landlord, and a beautiful view. As much trouble as we had deciding between them, I can't imagine we'll miss anything about the other one."

"Probably not."

"Randy said I could sign the lease tomorrow, and we can move in any time after Friday. Sooo…move in Saturday morning, take stock of what we need, and shop for it over the weekend before work gets you next week?"

"Hmmmm… Shopping with my fiancé to finish out what we need for our new place. I like the sound of that," she said, sliding her arms around his waist.

"I like it, too," Castle answered with a big smile. "It sounds like dreams coming true."

"For a big shot writer, you're kinda cheesy sometimes. Know that?"

"Yeah. You always did bring that out in me."

xxxxx

When Kate came back to the hotel the following evening, she reported that after taking the test a day early and passing it with flying colors, someone on the team did, in so many words, comment on her awesomeness.

xxxxx

Beckett's team leader was Darren Adams, a personable man about Castle's age. He was about six feet tall, a nice-looking man who seemed intelligent, knowledgeable, and capable; and he was as friendly and outgoing as Stack was curmudgeonly. Beckett had liked him and felt confident about working for him the first time they met. There was another woman on the team, too, Margaret Dailey. She was in excellent condition physically…had been an FBI agent for a little over a decade before being recruited into the task force, seemed very competent, and was welcoming of another woman on the team.

"I've pulled the files from the last few cases we closed as well as the one we're finishing up today," Adams told Beckett. "These are so recent that a question could come up about them. It wouldn't hurt to be familiar with them. Before you leave this afternoon, someone will talk you through operating the digital equipment if you need it."

"I'll probably need it. Lowly police don't have the big stuff," she answered. "Oh, I need to give you this." She took the notepad from her desk and tore off the top page. "As of Saturday morning, that will be my address. The lease will be signed today."

"Nice digs over there. Our agents generally only visit at those addresses...on business."

"Castle is used to nice digs. He's a very down-to-earth guy, though. I think you'd like him."

"I'd like to meet him sometime. All of us get together now and then for drinks. You should come and bring him along. Let us see if he passes inspection."

"He'd like that." She pointed at her desk. "Guess I'd better get to those files."

Toward the end of the afternoon, she was introduced to using some of the digital equipment they had at their disposal. She knew she'd figure it all out, but for now, it was a bit overwhelming.

That night involved packing again. She and Castle checked out of the hotel on Saturday morning and moved their presently paltry belongings into the apartment. After checking what was included in their furnished apartment, they listed what they would need and went out to find it. By late Sunday afternoon, they were back at the apartment for the day and pleasantly but completely worn out. Then the phone rang.

There had been a large explosion in Atlanta, and when Adams saw that it was likely to involve a group they had been trying to find and link to a government source for over a year, the team was ordered to be on an early plane to Georgia.

xxxxx

After they reached the crime scene, Stack annoyed the police who had been working on the case, and Beckett followed behind him trying to mend fences to get some cooperation.

The first three days of the week were spent involved in work at the crime scene, in witness interviews, etc., but they still had no substantial evidence. What they had was circumstantial and sketchy, and they went home discouraged.

As they waited to board their plane, Kate sent Castle a text to let him know they were on their way home, and he surprised her and met her at the airport. She was wearing jeans and a pullover, looking more like a model than a federal agent.

"Hey, I've missed you," he said, giving her a short but heartfelt kiss and taking her bag from her. "I guess I don't get to ask how things went, do I."

"Not the way we'd hoped," Castle heard from a male voice behind Beckett. "You must be Richard Castle. Darren Adams, Beckett's team leader. It's good to meet you." Castle shook his hand, and Adams made the other introductions. "You've already met Stack, and this is Margaret Dailey."

Castle shook hands with the others. "You don't look much like Men in Black today," he joked.

"We only wear the power suits when we need to look intimidating," Adams answered with a smile. "Other times we try to blend in."

"Are you still working, or can you go home now?"

"We should go back to the office for about an hour, take one more look at what we've got."

"I know you must have checked Castle's background as well as mine," Kate began, "I realize I'm still new, but I wonder if, knowing he's been involved in federal cases before, he could look at this with us? I worked with him for five years…and he's good. He sees details and thinks a little out of the box."

"A lot out of the box sometimes," Stack grumbled.

"I do remember being surprised at that," Adams answered. "There were several comments in his file that bordered on commendations. And, since I do have the authority to use whatever resources we need… All right, Mr. Castle, let's see what you can do. We'll get you a visitor's badge on the way in."

Then they got in their separate vehicles and returned to the office.

Everything they had was laid out efficiently after they were there, making it easy to see what they had now that they were away from the pressure, confusion, and business of the of the crime scene, the interviews, and having to work with people outside their organization. As they talked through it, Castle bit his tongue and didn't ask the questions that came to mind, but most of them were answered later in the discussion. "So that's where we are, Mr. Castle. This session hasn't seemed to bring us any closer to a conclusion. I'm willing to consider any scrap of a reasonable idea you might have."

Castle asked the few questions that still remained as he picked up the interview transcripts, speed reading his way through them after getting his answers.

"Were there any connections between the bomber and the victims?"

"Not that we could tell, other than the workplace. Not much there with the neighbors, either. They said he kept to himself a lot, occasionally spent time with these three, and he pointed the names out on a list."

"What about the neighbors…were _they_ connected in any way…where did they travel, were there places they all frequented, people they all knew, similar patterns of behavior…same for the people he worked with. If this group is as good as you say, maybe they depend on small efforts from a lot of people to keep the trail of activity from being found easily. You understand I'm grabbing at the only straws I can see."

"Sometimes that's all you can do. It's worth a look. I'll get this list to tech so we can look over the results tomorrow. If nothing comes of it, we can't be any more frustrated than we are now. Right now, all of you go home and get some rest."

"There are going to be weeks worse than this one, Beckett. Get used to it," Stack told her as she and Castle turned to go.

"Thanks for the positive vibe, Stack," she said over her shoulder as they made their way to the door.

The rest of the team laughed, then Adams called, "Hey, Castle, if any of this pans out, drinks are on me after work tomorrow."

"If by any stretch of the imagination it does, I'll take you up on it," he called back as they left.

_xxxxx_

Beckett called Castle mid-afternoon the next day. "Adams said to see if you're on for drinks after work."

"You found something?"

"Yeah we did. We'll tell you about it this afternoon. I'll text you the address of the bar and let you know when it looks like we'll get there."

"I miss you."

"You, too. See you later."

A little victory dance happened in the kitchen on his way to take a shower and change into clean clothes.

When Beckett called, Castle walked to meet them at the bar, his thoughts wandering as he walked. The Plan B building was a little closer to where Beckett was working than the Plan A apartment, and the bar was about halfway between them…a welcome happenstance that afternoon. They all reached the same place about the same time. After moving into Plan B, Castle could hardly remember the minor details that led them to choose the other apartment. He'd rather be in New York with everything back to normal, but he liked this place, and he liked having Kate call it home.

After everyone gathered around the table, they ordered drinks and decided to add sandwiches.

While they waited, Adams asked, "Did Beckett tell you what we found?"

"No. She just said you'd tell me this afternoon."

"We got back more in-depth information on the neighbors and the people at work, and when we looked at it, there was an almost single item system operating. Nobody was doing anything suspicious enough to warrant attention, but as a whole, they could put together a dangerous operation. Once we found the pattern in what they were doing, it began to make sense. Not only that, but we went back to the other two bombings and found the same patterns…even a couple of the same people. This time we've got 'em…and we think we can make it stick."

"So grabbing at straws paid off this time?"

"Yep. Like I said, sometimes it's all you can do. To tell the truth, I thought that's all I was doing when I had you come in with us."

"I thought that might be the case," Castle answered with a smile.

"Looks like all our straws paid off," Adams responded with a smile of his own.

"I think Beckett's pretty proud of you," Dailey offered teasingly. "It looked like it was all she could do not to say 'Told you so' when it dawned on us what we were seeing."

Giving her his best flirty smile, Castle looked at Beckett and asked, "Are you proud of me?"

"Yes, I'm proud of you," she admitted, bumping her shoulder against his before taking a sip of her drink. Looking at the others, she said, "I can't go overboard on the praise because then I have to live with the ego." Everyone laughed, Castle included.

They sat a while, getting to know each other a little better, then Adams said, "I ran a security check for you, Castle, and I understand your having references from people you've worked with, but there was another one I don't remember seeing the first time. The man is a legend, mostly works alone. He's one of those people who earned the CIA the name 'spooks'. The guy is a ghost, and he trusts nobody. How in the world did you get that one? I'm pretty sure you know who I mean."

"Our paths crossed, he asked me to help with something, and I did, and he trusted me. He said I couldn't talk about it, so I won't." There was a pause for emphasis, signaling the end of the subject. "He trusted me."

"I understand."

Stack said, "You might be able to help us out another way, too."

"How's that?" Castle asked.

"Your writer status could get you invitations to social events we don't have easy access to. If you were able to get into select parties, or whatever, it would give Beckett a chance to 'overhear' things."

"We could do that now and then, I guess. Would you want to join the DC social scene?" he asked Beckett.

"Not really," she answered, "but if there's good reason, we could do that. We've had to do that sort of thing before. And we both clean up pretty well."

"In another couple of weeks, I'll be in and out of town for a while," Castle told them. I need to check in at home now and then. My daughter is in college…Columbia, Lord knows what kind of parties my mother is hosting at my loft in New York, and I have a new book coming out in September. I'll have to do some traveling for that…more events. Let Kate know what you need us for, and I'll do my best to be here for it. If entrance is limited, I'll see if my publicist can help."

They all talked while they had their meal then went their separate ways.

As Castle and Beckett walked home, taking their time to enjoy the exploration of their new neighborhood, Castle leaned over toward Beckett and said conspiratorially, "My dad is a legend."

Kate gave him a big smile and answered, "Looks like he is…and still keeping an eye on where he can help."


	12. Chapter 12

**AN/ The conversation between Ryan and Esposito at the end of the chapter, like the character, etc., belongs to Marlowe and company. They're just nice enough to let us play with them. The conversation is an out of context placement of a deleted scene from the new S5 DVD's. It was intended to take place during Esposito's suspension, so the the rat statement originally had a double intent.**

**Chapter 12**

"Hi Dad," Kate said when she answered her phone. "I'm good. Are you still coming in tomorrow?"

"My flight gets in at 9:00 AM, and I'll be leaving Tuesday morning about the same time. Do you still have room for me? You haven't turned it into a storage room or anything?"

"No," she answered, knowing he could practically see her eye roll. "You have a room waiting. Rick says he's looking forward to seeing you, too."

"Sorry I wasn't there when you moved, but this trip has been a good one for the firm. The company people in New York sounded like they wanted me to represent them, but the CEO has his quirks and hadn't given his okay. I've toured their facilities, talked to people in all the departments, and I like what I see. The CEO and the board seem to have a conscience about the way they do business."

"Then I hope you get them."

"You know how some CEO's make their people go mountain climbing to prove themselves?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, this guy expects you to fish. We were at his cabin at a lake all of last week, in the boat on the lake telling fish tales, cleaning the catch and having them for dinner… It was the best business trip I've ever had to take, and I'm pretty sure I passed his fisherman test."

"It sounds like you have it all tied up," she said, laughing.

"Not until he signs on the dotted line, but I'm pretty confident he will. I should get the packing done now. Got to be at the airport early."

"Okay. I'm looking forward to seeing you."

"'Night, Katie."

"I miss being able to call him and meet him at the diner," she said, plopping down on the sofa next to Castle. "You must miss your mom, too."

"What? The wild clothes? The perennial wine glass in her hand? The wild gestures while she talks? Yeah. Maybe I miss her a little. There's also the occasional heart-to-heart, an actual mom moment now and then."

"Have you heard anything from Alexis?"

"Other than that one letter, no. I guess there's no cell coverage in the rain forest. I miss her, too, but I'd be doing that even in New York."

"Are we still good, Castle? Do you resent me for bringing you here?"

"We're still good. You did eventually come to me to talk through the decisions…so we could make them together. Honestly, it's been hard to get past the way you handled it at the beginning, but I don't resent the task force being the reason we're here, or that you wanted to take the position. You're good. You deserve to have a job that allows you the standing that says so. And I've enjoyed the adventure. It was nice deciding together on a place to live and what we needed to make it ours."

"I have, too, but I think the loft will always feel more like home."

"Yeah?" He looked immensely pleased.

"Yeah."

"So if you find yourself disenchanted with the job, you wouldn't mind going back?" he asked.

"If I didn't want the job anymore, I'd be helping you pack in a heartbeat."

"That's good to know," he answered, swinging an arm over her shoulders and contentedly pulling her close.

Her dad's visit was a pleasure for all three of them. While Kate was at work, Jim and Rick found things to do, and when she was home, Castle gave her space to enjoy having her dad in her own place. While he was still there, he got word from his law firm that they had received the signed documents from the CEO. He had won the company as a client, so they went out for a celebratory dinner the night before he left. They all laughed about how it happened and decided dinner that night should be fish.

xxxxx

The next months on the task force took Beckett out of town several times, and Castle took advantage of her time away to go back to New York to be with his mother, see the old team, and get some business done. Arrangements for book tours and promotions were made, and before long, he would be travelling again for his own job. It was getting old, the constant flying back and forth; but having Kate close when they were both there was worth it, and in spite of some grouchy moments at the ends of long days, they still wanted to be together. There had been a couple of arguments at the end of such days, but they stuck to their promises of calming down in neutral corners and getting through it together. Kate had managed a couple of weekends to go back to New York with him, Martha had come to visit for a few days while Alexis was gone, and they kept in touch with the work family by phone.

Rick and Kate eventually decided that, even though schedules were more difficult, being in a place that was exclusively theirs without distractions from others when they did have time together made it easier for them to work things out.

xxxxx

Castle was gone for a week in the latter part of August, making the rounds of talk shows and radio programs promoting his new book in preparation for its release about a month later. As he was packing after the last appearance, he got a text saying that the team was headed to New York, so he changed his plane reservations and was on his way home.

There had been an armed robbery that resulted in a death, and it caught the eyes of the task force because the victim had high level clearance for a wide range of government employees and activities. The victim, Wesley Ferguson, was at his home in Manhattan on vacation at the time, due back in Washington the day after Labor Day. Having worked with Beckett's team at the twelfth, Stack recommended that they request the case be assigned to them, and it was.

When the four members of the team walked into the twelfth, Esposito and Ryan stood to grab Beckett in big hugs.

"So how's it going to be? Are you going all Woman in Black on us and taking the case, or do we get to help?"

"Believe it or not, Stack is the one who recommended the case be given to you. I think you impressed him, whether he wants to admit it or not. Isn't that right, Stack? She asked playfully."

Stack mumbled something that sounded vaguely affirmative while still sounding vaguely non-committal.

"That's our boy," Dailey said, shaking her head.

Ryan laughed. "I'm Kevin Ryan, he said, shaking Dailey's hand. The big guy is my partner, Javier Esposito." He looked at Beckett. "Speaking of big guys, where's Castle? Does he get to help, too?"

"I hope so," Beckett answered. "He should be back from a promotional tour this morning…landing at the airport any time now."

"Since I've met Stack, and Dailey and Beckett are women, you must be Darren Adams." Ryan said, changing the subject.

"Well, your detective skills are working so far," Adams answered, reaching to shake Kevin's hand.

"And it only gets better," Esposito promised, softening toward them slightly and offering his hand, too. "Good to meet you." Nodding in her direction, he added in acknowledgment, "Dailey," and she raised a hand in greeting.

"Since you've all worked well with Beckett before, she's running the show here. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to see your captain and take care of protocol."

Gates was already coming their way when the statement was made. "Captain Victoria Gates, Agent Adams. Did I hear you say that Detec…Agent Beckett will be heading the investigation?"

"Yes, ma'am." Everyone from the twelfth cringed at the ma'am and were impressed when Gates let it go. "We're here because the victim was in possession of extremely sensitive government information and personal information about thousands of individuals. We need to be sure that none of that has been compromised. If we're certain that it was indeed simply an armed robbery gone bad, we'll turn the case back over to your people. Until then, we hope to be able to work with them to establish that…with Agent Beckett in charge."

"I believe we can work with that." Looking to another woman who had joined the group unobtrusively to listen, she asked, "Did you hear all of that, Detective Marconi?"

"Most of it. I believe I understood that Agent Beckett will take the lead for my team as well as her own?"

"Right. I'll expect all of you to cooperate with these agents and work together." Gates told them. Before going back to her office, she said, "It's good to see you back with us, Beckett."

"Thank you, Sir. It's good to be back."

"I'm Rhonda Marconi," the female detective said. "I'm your replacement."

"Nice to meet you, "Beckett answered, but the words 'your replacement' cut to the bone. Her ties to the twelfth were still deep. "Would you show us what you have so far?"

The familiar board was set up with the available information, and Detective Marconi took them through all of it. Beckett asked pertinent questions, and they discussed a couple of things.

"We got a call from a neighbor this morning," Ryan reported, "a Mr. James Littleton. He wants to remain anonymous because says he has reason to believe that it wasn't a robbery and he doesn't want to be the next victim. He's coming in to talk to us this morning…as paranoid as he sounded, probably by way of New Jersey's back roads. We're expecting him any minute."

"Okay. Guys, would you text Castle and tell him we've got a body. He hasn't heard that in a while," she said with a grin. "We'll put him back on your team as a consultant. Marconi and I will take the neighbor when he gets here. We should probably check into his records to be sure he's a good source. You've already done background on the victim?"

"It's right here, printing it now," Ryan told her. "The case just came to us early this morning."

Just then a non-descript middle-aged man stepped out of the elevator, looking around as if he expected something to attack him any second.

Watching the man a moment, Esposito grinned and said, "I'll give you ten to one that's our neighbor."

"Looks like it," Beckett answered with a smile of her own. "Come on, Marconi. Let's get him out of public view so he feels a little safer. Is the conference room open?"

"Yeah. It's waiting for this guy."

Beckett took the file and a notepad and walked toward the nervous witness. "Are you by any chance Mr. Littleton?" she asked.

"That's me. How could you tell? The green around the gills showing?"

Both women laughed. "Well, your sense of humor is still intact. That's a good sign," Beckett told him.

"I want to do the right thing, but I never had to be part of something like this before. I don't know how you do this every day. I'm falling apart."

"Part of the job," Marconi assured him. "Can we get you anything before we start? Coffee or a soft drink?"

"A Coke would be good," he answered. "That's about my worst vice. I'm not an exciting guy."

"I'll get one from the break room and be right behind you," Marconi said. "Go on and take him to the conference room.

"Don't sell yourself short, Mr. Littleton," Beckett soothed. "Not everybody would voluntarily come in to help us out. I can tell you had to push yourself to do that. It takes guts."

Marconi came in with the canned soda and put it down next to the witness. He took a long drink and seemed to be calming down. "Why don't you start at the beginning and tell us what happened," she suggested.

"Well, I couldn't sleep last night, woke up about one thirty and couldn't get back to sleep. It was a nice night, so about two-thirty I went out and sat on the deck in the lounge chair, leaned it back and stretched out. I hadn't been there too long before I heard some voices next door. It sounded like two men talking over near the front door. I was about to get up and look through a little gap in the fence when they moved over toward my yard. There's a little fence around my deck, so they couldn't see me, and I was scared. I just stayed right where I was and listened. They were being pretty quiet, but it sounded like they were taking turns moving things to their car. Then one of them asked the other one, 'What are we gonna do with all this stuff?' The other one said, 'He said to do whatever we want with it. Just to make it look like a robbery. All he wants is the laptop.'"

"Did you get a look at them?"

"Are you kidding? Did you miss the part about not being an exciting guy? I stayed right where I was. But I can do better. I have security cameras. One is mounted on a pole behind a tall narrow tree at the corner of the house. It's not too noticeable. When they came close to my property line, it picked up a good picture."

"That's great. Do you have it with you?"

"Yeah. Right here." He reached in his pocket, pulled out a stick drive, and handed it to Beckett. "Everything on my cameras is there. Wesley's son called 911 when his dad didn't show up for their fishing trip and didn't answer the door when he went over. The police knocked on everybody's doors early this morning, and I didn't want anybody singling me out to come back and pick up information. I have a family, and I don't want them in danger; so I came to you. Like I said, I want to do the right thing, but I want all of us safe."

"It sounds like you considered everything and put together a good plan under a lot of stress. You need to give yourself credit for that. Is there anything else you can tell us?" There was a shake of the head, followed by a slow exhale. "We have your phone numbers. If we need to be in touch further, it will be by phone. We don't want your family in danger, either."

"You've been very kind. Wesley was a good man. I want them to have to pay for it. I just don't want to have to be involved beyond this."

"Thank you, sir." Marconi answered. "We'll do everything we can to keep you out of it."

"Do you want someone to walk you out?" Beckett asked.

"No, thanks. I think I can be brave enough to get outside and hail a cab."

Beckett smiled and waved as he went back to the elevator. A detective from another team, Johnson, one who was relatively new when she left, walked out of the break room and past them, stopping to ask with a smile if they got anything worth having from the little scared guy, and Beckett had the gut instinct to say, "No. He was long-winded and well-meaning, but we got nothing useful."

Marconi didn't contradict her, but questioned her about it later, as did Adams. Ryan and Esposito thought they might understand. She told both teams that the man was scared to death and she didn't want to have the pictures out there right now. The angle of the pictures would show exactly where the camera was, and they might as well hold on to that information for now. She said she was calling it 'need to know' for the time being...gut feeling being most of her reason.

Handing the stick drive to Ryan along with a page from her notebook to mask it, she looked at him directly and said, "There were two men there. See if you can pull a good image from this and run it through facial recognition. And just for my peace of mind…and Mr. Littleton's, don't put it up on the board unless I tell you to. Be very careful with the information you find," she told him pointedly.

"I'll get right on it," Ryan promised.

Esposito went with him to his desk while the others talked with Beckett.

"She picked up on something she doesn't like." Esposito mumbled.

"Yeah. It looked like it started with Johnson," Ryan answered.

"We gotta talk to her later. Maybe at Castles's…not here."

"Time stamp here is 9:38PM. I'll fast forward. Tell me if you see something."

Esposito speculated, "He said he went out about 2:30, and not long after that he heard voices at the front door then they loaded the car. They must have been there before he came out, killed the guy, dumped all the stuff in one place, then loaded it. Start at midnight."

"Okay, we're there. Keep your eyes open. Speaking of eyes open, Johnson's watching. Maybe we should do this later. Follow my lead. I'll get the stick drive and pocket it."

"Looks like he's okay." Esposito removed the stick drive and sat down, putting it in his pocket as he did. "Doesn't look like he's ever done anything risky in his life."

"Can't even find a parking ticket," Ryan added.

"What do we know about Johnson?" Javi asked quietly as he slipped the drive from his pocket and handed it to Ryan.

"Not much. He transferred in from Jersey last year. Seems like a good guy. Does his job."

"Wonder what spooked Beckett."

"I don't know, but her gut feelings are usually good. Maybe we should check on Johnson?"

"Man, we need a computer that can't be traced here. I know where to go for it…just need to make a phone call and set up a meeting."

"Go for what?" asked a voice behind them.

"Castle!" Ryan exclaimed, and both the boys stood to greet him.

"Man, it's good to see you," Esposito said with a big grin, slapping him on the arm.

"So what are you looking for?" Castle asked again. "Something to do with the case?"

The two detectives turned their backs to Johnson, who was watching again. Castle raised his hand with a smile and called across the room, "Hey, Johnson. How's it going?" and Johnson smiled back and looked away.

"We had a witness come in this morning and offer us the kind of evidence we usually just dream of; but when Johnson over there asked about him, something made Beckett lie to him about what we have. The witness was scared to death, and she was trying to be careful, so she told us to consider it 'need to know'. Adams put her in charge, and she has all of us working on everything. We want to check on Johnson, but not from these computers. I know where to get one we don't need to worry about…just have to figure out how to get away."

"I've got an idea," Castle told him. Looking over at the rest of the two teams, he called, "Hey, does everybody like Chinese? Esposito volunteered for a lunch run. It's on me." Seeing nods and hearing affirmatives, Castle took the money clip from his pocket and handed everything in it to Esposito. "Use what you need, bring back the rest. Get plenty of what everybody here likes."

"Thanks, man. We don't know what we've got here, and we need to be careful," Ryan told him.

"Be back as soon as I can," Esposito said to everybody as he made his way to the elevator.

Beckett had gone back to the conference room to talk to Marconi about visiting the crime scene, and to ask about Johnson…whether he ever took an interest in other team's cases. Marconi thought for a minute and said she couldn't remember that he ever asked anything like that before, but it could have only meant that he was as amused as the rest of them.

As she rounded the corner coming back to the bullpen, Ryan said, "There's your girl, Castle."

"I haven't seen her in a week," he answered, and met her in three strides, pushing her back into the hallway she had just come from...away from prying eyes, almost. Marconi was nearly blindsided as Castle grabbed Beckett in a huge hug and she threw her arms around his neck. He managed a quick kiss rather than the one he wanted.

"Richard Castle, I presume," Marconi said, offering her hand, and Beckett took care of introductions.

"Sorry," Castle apologized. "I've been away for a week."

"You're not really that sorry, are you?"

"Only that I might have embarrassed you," he answered with his trademark smile.

"Hey, that's the most excitement I've seen in _my_ life for way over a week. No problem."

They all laughed and returned to the bullpen and the rest of their teams. Ryan was back at the security camera video, looking for some kind of movement. Before long, he found something. There was a blur of activity toward the back of the house next door, but nothing that would be helpful except for the time stamp. Then he found the closer picture their witness had mentioned. It showed the faces of both men.

"Beckett," Ryan called, waving her over.

"Print that," she told him; you know the rest."

"Got it." He hit print and picked up the printout as soon as it left the machine.

After Ryan had run facial recognition on both men in the picture, he came up with army records for two men listed as killed in action, both Special Forces. He called Beckett and Marconi over and explained the situation. "Stranger things have come up around here. I'm gonna run the fingerprints and see what happens." A few minutes later, they all gathered around his computer again to see two men in military style gear, looking very much alive under new names and working for a company called Arvantis Solutions, in what they called Unit C.

"Lunch is here," Esposito proclaimed, holding the bags high as he left the elevator, and a herd of hungry detectives descended on the bags, emptying them out on Esposito's desk. Castle got paper plates from the supply kept in the break room, and they all helped themselves.

Captain Gates came out of her office and looked at the group digging in. "It looks more like a party out here than a bullpen," she commented.

"Come and join us," Castle encouraged. "There's plenty.

"What have you got there?" she asked, looking tempted.

"Some of everything. And it's good," Adams reported between bites.

"Looks like you got everything we could need," Castle said to Esposito.

"I did. Thanks, Bro'." He reached in his pocket and handed Castle some folded bills. Do you know how much money you gave me, man? When I looked at it I almost had a heart attack. At my first stop, people don't generally carry that kind of cash."

"I wanted to be sure you had enough."

Beckett got a plate and plastic utensils and insisted that Gates join them. "We'll even talk shop if it would make you feel better about the party atmosphere," she told her.

"Is that sweet and sour pork?" Gates asked, reaching the limit of her patience with holding back.

After lunch, Ryan showed Gates what they'd found, and Beckett explained why it wasn't on the board yet…leaving Johnson's question out of things.

Dailey is checking deeper into their military records, and Ryan and Esposito are looking for present addresses and contact numbers and trying to reach the victim's next of kin. The rest of us are going to look at the crime scene.

By the end of the day, both teams felt good about the progress that had been made…and grateful to Mr. Littleton for his help.

xxxxx

The boys went to Javi's apartment after work. He pulled the generic laptop from under the car seat and they took it to his apartment and opened it on his kitchen table. They quickly set it up for use, made up what they needed for ID's, etc. and looked up Johnson. They found that he was Raglan's nephew…and weren't sure that meant he would be with them to get justice for his uncle or against them because the same people had some control over him. They decided to go with Beckett's gut feeling and err on the side of caution.

Then they looked up Arantis Solutions. Ryan was working at the computer while Esposito was looking at the printout of the two men.

"Wonder where these guys are. Nobody home in either place this afternoon. The feds didn't pick up any sign of them on any kind of transportation out of the country…or the state for that matter. I hope our undercover surveillance sees something soon."

"Hey, didn't you say Maddox worked for Arantis Solutions?"

"Yeah, so did Lockwood. What of it?" Javi said distractedly. "Oh, and then these two…"

"Well, Bracken is a ten percent shareholder in the company." After a thoughtful pause, Ryan was a little more animated. "This all lines up. A powerful politician with money and resources. It's…it's how he got his own assassination team. The whole man of the people thing…it's just a front.

"We already knew that, man. Yeah. The guy's a rat, but he has the whole world thinking otherwise."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Captain, can we see you before the feds get here?" Ryan asked quietly at her door.

"Come in and close the door. What is this about?"

Ryan placed a printout of their information on Arvantis on her desk. "We found this last night."

After scanning the document quickly, she was angry. "You were instructed not to follow anything about _him_. You could have put all of us in danger. What were you thinking? I mean, it's good to know this, but none of us want to join Wesley Ferguson."

"Castle got us a computer that won't trace to any of us," Esposito reassured her. "We used that one. Arantis Solutions is a military contractor. They provide mercenaries and services to anybody who will pay them. On the surface they look legitimate, but there are stories of where they've provided troops that are appalling. These men we're looking for, as well as Maddox and Lockwood belonged to what they call Unit C. We suspect that's their assassination squad. All of them were military and reappeared in Unit C with new identities. This has to go to _your_ feds."

"Yes, it does." She released a deep sigh. "It will be a relief when all of this is over. My apologies for doubting your good judgment."

"No problem," Ryan answered.

"Thank you, gentlemen. I think I see our guests."

The boys left as Beckett's team was coming in.

"Is Beckett in yet?" Dailey asked.

"No, they still have about fifteen minutes," Ryan answered. "They should be here any minute. Why don't you get some coffee while you wait? That machine Castle bought us makes way better coffee than you'll find in most police break rooms."

"Come on," Marconi said to Dailey as she came in, "I'll show you how it works." As she made herself a coffee, slowly to demonstrate for Dailey, she said, "If that man kissed me the way he kissed Beckett yesterday, I wouldn't be here yet, either."

"I've seen that once, but just the way they look at each other…"

They heard Beckett's voice asking if there was anything new and Castle asking Ryan about Jenny, and they stopped their gossip, returning with their coffee before they missed something.

The phone rang in the captain's office, and they saw Gates' expression change. She jotted something down and came to the door looking solemn. "There's a new crime scene. Our undercover surveillance called in and said the front door was wide open at first light. It's the Littleton's home. His daughter found him near the front door when she got up early this morning. An execution, and the two men on the surveillance picture…also executed...they were found under the tree next to the camera that caught their pictures. I don't know how whoever is behind this found out about our evidence, but this is clearly a warning to us, and we clearly have a leak. We're going to have to tread carefully."

"Oh, God," Adams moaned. "The man was just trying to help…and protect his family. What in the world did Wesley Ferguson have that started all this?"

"Is CSU already there?" Beckett asked.

"Yes."

"I guess we have to go face it." Running her fingers through her hair in frustration, she didn't even try to hide the shimmer of tears threatening to fall. "We did everything we could to protect him. I even asked for an unmarked car outside his house through this morning." Pulling herself together and appearing more angry than anything else, she demanded, "I want to know how somebody found out he gave us evidence and how somebody got into his home and probably out the front door without being seen. Get somebody from tech down here to sweep the bullpen for bugs...somebody we trust. If there aren't any, the leak has to be close to home, and we need to find it. Ryan, stay here in case we need you to find something. Castle, you'll go with Esposito this time."

Castle wanted to go with Kate and be there for comfort; but he understood, so he simply nodded.

CSU was just finishing when they reached the Littleton house, and Lanie was waiting for them before she had the victims transported to the morgue.

Beckett and her team looked around and got as much information from CSU as was available at the time. Like the house next door, there were no prints. They didn't even pretend it was a robbery this time. Lanie said she'd be thorough, but it looked like pretty cut and dried execution style deaths.

"Can we talk to CSU before they leave, Javi?" Castle asked.

"Sure. We'll go down now. What do you want to know?"

"Is this the same team that was next door yesterday?"

"I think so."

The first team member they found was packing his equipment into his truck. "Castle. Good to see you again."

"Thanks. Good to be back. Were you guys the ones who handled the Ferguson house yesterday?"

"Yeah. Pretty bad, huh? The other neighbors must be wondering who's next. I feel bad for them."

"Did you find any CD's or thumb drives…anything that might have held records?"

"No."

"We can look around now, can't we? You're finished over there, right?"

"Yeah. All yours."

"Thanks, Brad."

"I never got up to speed on the Ferguson case," Castle said as he and Esposito walked back to the house. "I need to catch up. Do we have anything on his personality…habits, that sort of thing?"

"He worked in DC, so nothing from work yet. We were going to make some phone calls this morning, but we're here. Maybe Ryan is working on it. Neighbors made him sound a little OCD. Everything had to be just so, but they all said he was a great guy…friendly, generous… This whole thing stinks, man. Two good men gone, and the scum is still out there."

Beckett's team was in the living room, ready to leave.

"Can we look around next door?" Castle asked Beckett.

"Sure. Any particular reason?"

"Anybody with OCD tendencies would back up everything on a computer…probably more than once. Even if the laptop and a portable drive were taken in a pseudo robbery, there could be another one hidden somewhere for safekeeping. It can't hurt to look."

"Makes sense. We looked for that sort of thing yesterday and didn't find anything, but we can take one more look. We're already here."

Walking through the Ferguson house, they ended up in the office that once housed Ferguson's computer. "Did anybody see any sign of computer equipment anywhere else in the house?" Castle asked.

"Not me," Stack answered. "So, if the guy had some OCD issues, this room is where he'd have anything computer related. Is that what you're saying?"

"That's it," Castle answered, looking around.

Adams picked up the thought. "So we're looking for places where something small could be hidden…and retrieved if it's needed."

"Right," Dailey chimed in. "Why don't we each take a wall…one of us in that closet…and see if anything turns up? We're not gonna get anything out of those two in the yard next door," she observed with a deep sigh.

"Sounds good," Esposito answered. "I'll take the closet."

Half an hour later, Stack said, "I think I've got something. Looks like a false corner on this…this…I don't know…thing. It's like a box, but it's made of so many strips of wood that the lines blur."

"It's a puzzle," Castle answered. "Sometimes they have hidden compartments." Taking it and turning it over carefully, he added, "There's usually one piece that releases some others so you can move them apart."

"We have equipment to help us with that," Stack said. "If that doesn't work, there's always hammers and saws."

"Ordinarily, I'd ask what the fun in that would be, but here. Have at it. Just, you know…save the hammers and saws as a last resort," Castle answered, and Stack almost smiled.

"Anybody have anything else promising?" Beckett asked.

"No," Adams answered. "I think we've tapped every inch of wall and felt to the bottom of every flower pot in the room. That puzzle is probably our best bet if it's here."

"Okay. Let's take it with us and see what we can find. Somebody grab an evidence bag," Beckett told them. "Then we need to check with Lanie and ballistics."

xxxxx

With electronic help, they found the portable drive in the puzzle's open compartment and went about retrieving it. "This is going to take some time," Ryan said as he plugged it in and brought it up on the screen. The federal team had now taken over the conference room with their electronic resources, the location having the added benefit of keeping it from being viewed without obvious effort.

"Let me have it," Dailey offered. "We have programs that can isolate things pretty quickly if we find something we want to follow up."

"That may be best, anyway," Ryan told her. "I could have to leave any time. Jenny's due in a few days."

"No problem," she answered and took the drive to plug into her own computer.

"Where did Castle go?" Ryan asked Beckett.

"Meeting at Black Pawn…more book business."

"Beckett, I need a minute," Adams said solemnly. "We need to talk…privately."

"Sure. Let's see if an interrogation room is open."

They sat at the table across from one another, and Adams looked like he didn't want to be there.

"You haven't done anything wrong," he assured her. "I put you in charge here, and that's where you'll stay. But since you're in charge, you're the one I need to talk to. I need to just blurt this out. I'm the reason Littleton is dead."

"You're…" she began in shock.

"Somebody called and gave me a phone number…demanded I report on what was found. They threatened my wife and kids if I didn't. I don't have proof, but my suspicions are that it has something to do with Senator Bracken and some of Ferguson's records. It wasn't one of the events you and Castle attended, but a different source reported yet another Bracken rumor…that he was at odds with someone about financial records. There was a large deposit in Ferguson's bank account last week, and it disappeared two days later. Maybe he couldn't be bought? Or I could be wrong. Could be a coincidence."

"And your family was threatened?"

"I can't let them be hurt because of me, but I don't want to be the mole, either. I can't live with the idea that someone else could die because of me. These killings were a warning to all of us, but I think they were especially a warning to me...letting me see what happens to people who do something to expose whoever is behind this. Those kids will spend their lives without their father because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life without my wife and kids."

"When tech didn't find anything, I knew it had to be one of us," Beckett answered. "I've worked with Ryan and Esposito long enough to have no reason to suspect them." She lowered her head and looked deep in thought. Without telling anything of her own history with Bracken, she said, "I need to talk to Captain Gates about something, then I'll make a couple of phone calls. I may know someone who can help you with your family. If that source is available, are you willing to disappear with your family for a while?"

"I'm willing to do anything for my family. I doubt anybody but us knows about the extra portable drive yet, and we need to keep it quiet; so there's probably some minimal time to work with."

"My gut says I can trust this team, but I don't trust politicians...or their appointees. Their agendas, as well as their associates' agendas, can stretch into some murky places. I was told that this group has complete autonomy. Can we keep this among the four of us and not mention it to the AG? For the time being, at least."

"It's my family, Beckett. Whatever we need to do. I'll leave Stack in charge. I know he didn't make a good impression when he worked with you before. Truthfully, he rarely does, but the man is trustworthy. You can talk to him…and he trusts your instincts. He and Dailey are willing to listen to you…new team member or not. You've proven yourself well."

"All right. Back to work as usual, and I'll let you know what I find out."

"Thank you."

Beckett went directly to the Captain, closed the door and explained the situation with Adams. "Can anybody help get them out of DC?" she asked. "And find a place they'll be safe? We can deal with what he did later, but it would be easier to do if he's still alive."

"This keeps getting more complicated. It's worth it, but I can hardly wait for it to be over. You might as well see this, too," Gates said. "Ryan and Esposito brought it to me this morning. Things are gradually piling up. I think they're looking for something that allows them to connect some of the dots. Right now they have mostly dots. I need to deliver that information you're reading, and I'll see if anything can be done for Adams and his family."

"Thank you, Captain."

xxxxx

Around three-thirty, Castle called his fiancé. "Beckett, you need to come home...now."

"I'll be there in a couple of hours."

"No. You need to come home _now_. Right now. It's important, but I can't tell you on the phone."

She couldn't decide if he was excited or in a panic…or both. "Okay. I'll be right there."

"Hurry."

She apologized to her team for leaving for a personal matter and promised to be back with the team as soon as possible; then she went home to see what had put Castle in that state.

"What's going on, Castle?" she asked as she came in.

"Read this," he demanded, picking up a letter from the kitchen counter and shoving it into her hand.

The letter from Castle's banker said that he had been contacted recently by the attorney for the late Michael Smith's estate. Mr. Smith's instructions had been explicit. In the event of Mr. Smith's death, to avoid unfortunate suspicion, his attorney was to wait approximately a full year before contacting Mr. Castle. The instructions left for this exchange were to be kept separate from the other estate documents and the attorney's office. He should arrange for a safe deposit box at Castle's bank and have any further contact made through Mr. Castle's banker. There would be no direct contact between Mr. Castle and the attorney; and, if Mr. Castle was no longer living, the key and the letter would go, in exact order, to Detective Kate Beckett, Detective Kevin Ryan, Detective Javier Esposito, or Captain Victoria Gates.

"I cancelled my meeting at Black Pawn, called the bank, arranged the meeting for this afternoon, and went over there. We spoke privately, I was given a key to a large safe deposit box, we opened it, and I found a heavy briefcase. He asked me not to open it anywhere near him…said that as many precautions as were being taken around it, he was sure he didn't want to know what was in it.

"So what was in it?"

"Come here." He took her hand and practically dragged her into the study, pointing out a stack of police files on his desk…the originals.

"Is this…"

"Yes," Castle answered. "He must have put copies in the safe. You need to see what's here. These aren't files that were ever in evidence. These are files that were put together by police who were trying to cover their backsides if anyone tried to place more blame on them than they deserved. There are sworn affidavits from police officers involved, lists of Bracken's contacts, business associates, people they knew had been killed to protect him, in a few cases, who did the killing, descriptions of how business was done, surveillance photos of business deals…a lot of solid evidence. We need to get this to Gates, but we can't waltz in with a briefcase full of files and leave it in her office. We might as well carry a sign."

"Copy these, Castle. Then hide all of it. Don't take any chances. We have some planning to do tonight…closed curtain paranoia fully operational. Something else important came up this afternoon, and I need to stay in touch with Gates about it. There are other things I need to tell you, too; but right now, I have to get back," she said, eyeing the files as if she wanted to drop cross-legged to the floor with them and devour every word. "Right now those files look like gold."

She gave him a big kiss and said, "I'll be back as soon as I can…I promise. Get them out of sight until then…please. No matter how safe it seems." Then she turned and walked toward the door. "I love you," she said, scurrying back to kiss him again before rushing out.

Returning to the precinct, she stuck her head in at the captain's door. "Can you stop by the loft before you make your delivery to…whoever?" she asked. "It's really important. _Really_ important."

"Then I'll squeeze it in."

"Thank you, sir. You won't be sorry."

Beckett went back to her team in the conference room. "Anything significant yet?"

"Still looking," Dailey reported. "There's a lot here. Is everything all right, Beckett? You look like you're being pulled in one direction too many today."

"I'm okay. You know how it is. Some days are just like that. You've been working pretty hard, too." She started to leave the room, then looked at the others. "We were all here a little early, and it's almost five. Let's put all this down for the night. Go home on time, go out for a good dinner, and get some sleep. You've earned it. We'll get a fresh start tomorrow and see if we can narrow our search. And sometime tomorrow, we should hear from ballistics…and get the autopsy reports. There are some things we need to talk about, but they can wait until then."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Kate called when she left the precinct, and Castle was in the kitchen getting mugs from the cabinet when she got home, preparing coffee for her the way she liked it.

"I thought this might help," he said, holding the mug out carefully as he accepted the appreciative kiss she gave him.

"Mmmm…almost as good as this," she answered, planting one more kiss before accepting the coffee and taking a sip. She sat down at the breakfast bar and reported, "I sent them all home on time and told them to get some rest. Gates is coming by after work again, and the boys will be here later, too."

"What else is going on? You said you had other things to tell me."

"It's one of those good news/bad news situations."

"Bad news first. Then it should get better from there."

"I don't know. It could be bad news and not quite as bad news."

"Just tell me."

She related the situation with Adams and his family and then told him what the boys had found using the new computer. "So, the good news is that there's more to look into, but the bad news is, if he finds out…"

"Wow," he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. "You've had some day. Big decisions to make."

"And it isn't over," she answered, leaning against him contentedly. "I needed this before it all starts again."

He kissed her head and rested his cheek against it for a long moment. "Everything is copied. It isn't well-hidden yet, but it's out of sight. I knew you'd want to see all of it. Is Gates going to take the originals when she leaves here?"

"I don't know. Probably. She was going to deliver the information the boys gave her this morning, but she's coming here first. My guess is she'll want to take time to look at the files, too…and maybe arrange a special delivery so nothing goes wrong."

"Come on, I'll show you what we have. It's in a drawer in the bedroom. We'll even close the curtains if it would make you feel better."

Kate laughed. "I think it would. Think Gates would mind sitting on the bed?"

"I don't know, but _I'd_ mind Gates sitting on the bed. I don't want her anywhere near my mind when I'm in bed with you."

"Close the curtains and get those files out. I need to see what's there."

"You're going to be astounded."

She sat cross-legged near the middle of the bed, and Castle put the files in front of her. She looked at them warily and asked, "Is proof of my mother's murder in here?"

"Documentation of the drug business, the people he was working with, reports of warnings to your mother and the other women encouraging cleaning up the neighborhood, dates, bank withdrawals from the account we found and matching deposits in Coonan's account that coincide with the murders. Back then Bracken did more of the work himself and wouldn't have had so many connections to keep him informed of what those cops were doing. He was small time at first but just as much of a snake. It looks like most of these guys were bad boys from pretty respectable middle-class families. I doubt he ever killed anybody himself, always ordered it. I'm sure the rise in money and power and the delegating of the dirty work to hired assassins went hand in hand. Your mother and the others were getting too close to having the mayor's cooperation in their efforts. That would have made them higher profile and would have curtailed a lot of his profits."

She sighed, a few tears pooling in her eyes. "Finally," she breathed into another sigh, letting the tears fall.

Castle sat down beside her and held her close while she clung to him and cried…and then pulled herself together.

Still leaning against him she asked, "Does any of it implicate that slimy drug dealer we interrogated?"

Pulling back and holding her shoulders at arm's length, he assured her with a satisfied grin, "He's right in the middle of it…party to planning the murders. I'd like to see his self-satisfied face when he realizes Bracken can't save him anymore."

"Thank you, Castle. You've been beside me as much as I allowed you through all of this. I wish I hadn't made it so hard for you."

"It's almost over. Then we can put it behind us and plan a future instead. Maybe, after a while, it could make it easier to remember just the good things when you think of your mother." He kissed her forehead and stood. "I'm going to let you look at these. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

She almost reverently opened the first file and started to read, and was still there reading when Captain Gates was invited into the living room.

"Kate, Captain Gates is here."

"What was so important?" Gates asked.

"These," Kate answered, leaving the study clutching the files against her chest. She slowly put them down on the coffee table next to the briefcase they were in and sat down on the sofa. "The explosion only destroyed copies. These are the originals. Each of a half dozen police officers who were intimidated into silence put together their own files…what they knew personally and proof they had of Bracken's activities. Roy must have held them all for safekeeping. When you put it all together, it's going to destroy him. Even if this is all they can get on him, he's done."

Gates picked up the file on top and skimmed through the familiar report forms. "Where did you get these?" she asked, awestruck.

They showed her the banker's letter and told her about Castle's afternoon; and as she sat there mesmerized by what she was reading, Ryan and Esposito knocked at the door.

"What's going on? Ryan asked. "I can't stay long. I'm worried about Jenny."

"We got a posthumous gift from Smith today," Castle told him and handed him a file.

He and Esposito opened it and realized what they were seeing. "Does this mean we got him?" Javier asked.

"It means we let the people who are working on it get him," Castle corrected. "We're still being careful."

Esposito and Gates were still looking through two of the files as Ryan asked Castle a couple of questions.

"Hey," Esposito said, "there's even a list of his partners in the drug dealing. "Whoa. Ryan, look at this. Didn't we see these names last night?"

"I know I remember that one…and that one. All of them, I think. Forty per cent of the company belonged to the Special Forces guy who founded it. The rest of these people were all ten per cent shareholders. Between them, they own sixty per cent of Arantis Solutions."

"Let me see that," Gates demanded. "We didn't have time to discuss that before Beckett's team came in. Most of the list you gave me this morning includes names of some highly placed people. I've had dealings with some of them, and I'm sure they don't want to give up their places of power any more than Bracken does. One of them is now an ambassador, and one is a Congressman. They probably rode Bracken's coattails to get to places where they could keep his organization moving smoothly. I wonder if they're still involved together in anything else illegal…other than killing people who might expose them. I'm itching to be a part of this investigation, but none of us can do that."

"Adams has said he'd leave Stack in charge…says he's absolutely trustworthy," Kate told them, "but if Adams disappears with his family, it's going to require an explanation to the rest of the team. I may be in the position of having to trust that neither of my other team members are in Bracken's camp. It's beyond unnerving."

"At least our bargaining chip with Bracken has grown sizably," Castle commented. "Do you think it's safe to trust them?"

"My gut says yes, but my paranoia says I shouldn't take the chance."

"I've been around them, and my gut says yes, too; but it's going to have to be your call, Kate. It scares me, though," Castle answered.

"I think this requires a phone call. I don't want to take this with me until I know I can put it in the right hands personally. Burner phones and drop sites." she grumbled. "I didn't sign up for the CIA." Taking out her burner phone, she brought up a number and hit 'call'. "Hello. It's Victoria Gates. I have something important to deliver as soon as possible. I don't want to drop it off anywhere. It needs to be delivered directly." She listened a moment. "Any chance of tonight? You're going to be glad to have it." After listening again, she said, "Thirty minutes? Yes, I can make it. Do you have a plain, dark briefcase? … Good. Bring that to the restaurant with you. We'll exchange them."

Castle was already gathering the files into the briefcase.

"I assume you made copies of all this," Gates said as Castle closed the briefcase and handed it to her.

"Oh, yeah. No chance we're going to lose this opportunity."

"All right, then I'll get to the restaurant and put this into the hands of people who can do something with it without getting us killed." She went straight to the door and left without another word.

"I'd like to stay and see what else is here, but I'm going home to Jenny. I'm not going to let Bracken keep me away from my wife and baby." Turning as he got to the door, Ryan said, "You know, if this gets Bracken and his goons locked away, the world will automatically be a little better place for my kid."

They all smiled and said goodnight as he left.

Esposito stayed for a few more minutes, and then Castle had Kate to himself. "Do you want the copies?" he asked.

"No. Not now. I saw enough to know we have him. I'll read the rest tomorrow…after I figure out who to trust with Arantis, Unit C. I've already told Adams I don't want to tell the Attorney General, or anybody associated with politicians, about suspecting a connection to Bracken; and he agreed."

"It's never stopped for you has it…since you were nineteen?"

"No. Sometimes it just sat more in the background. If we can just live long enough for the other feds to be able to use it in court…"

He held her close, rubbing one hand up and down her back in comforting strokes.

"Let's take a long, hot shower, Rick," she said softly. "Then take me to bed and make me forget everything but us."

xxxxx

Kate was already there with Castle, coffee in their hands, when the others came in that morning.

"Did you hear anything yet?" Adams asked Kate quietly, sitting down next to them while the others settled in…Dailey giving Stack a hard time.

"Not yet, but it's early. I'll let you know as soon as I do."

"All I can ask."

"Okay, Beckett, where do you want to start," Dailey asked. "You said we'd talk about narrowing the search."

"It's apparent that these were executions, which means someone hired professionals to do the job. It also seems they hired someone else to take out the first two killers, who were careless enough to get caught. That means whoever hired them has something important to lose if they're found out, and has the money to put out a hit. Search for financial irregularities and then public officials. We'll narrow it from there, depending on what we see."

"Sure. I'll have the program up in a minute." The screen came to life, and Dailey's fingers started flying across the keyboard. "Public officials…sizable list."

"Narrow it to politicians."

"Ah…shorter list."

"Print six of each list and then try high ranking military officers."

More clicking and tapping brought up another list. "Print six of this one, too?"

"Yeah. Then try New York government officials."

"Got it, aaaaaand printing. It isn't worded quite that way, though."

"CEO's, CFO's, big business owners…however you'd phrase that."

"Done. What else?"

"Let's collate the lists and distribute them…see if anybody stands out. We're looking for someone high profile, someone who would have a lot to lose if unflattering or incriminating information materialized, someone who can afford to hire three hit men. If you find anything, let us know. I know it's old-school, but it works."

Esposito came in as those instructions were being given. "Got another copy of that?" he asked.

"Next to the printer," Adams told him.

"Is Ryan here yet?" Castle asked.

"He took Jenny to the hospital about an hour ago," Esposito reported with a big smile. "He's about to be a daddy."

"That's great!" Castle answered. "We'll have to check in now and then. Be sure they're both okay."

"If you two are finished with your quilting bee," Stack grumbled, "we still have work to do."

"Lighten up, man," Esposito answered, sitting down next to Adams and looking through the list. "The day is still young, and a man only has his first kid once. Hey, I see somebody already. There's a Congressman here," he said looking pointedly at Castle and Beckett and showing them one of the Arantis owners.

"I've got some military brass," Adams said.

"Half a dozen New York City government people," Castle added. "No surprise there. Bob could probably point us to more."

"Who's Bob?" Dailey asked.

"The mayor," Esposito answered.

"Poker buddy," Beckett added as she read.

"Wow. Touch you," Dailey replied, looking impressed.

"I don't see Senator Bracken anywhere," Adams answered. "With the latest rumor running around, I thought he might be here somewhere."

"Look at the congressman. See what his specific problem is," Beckett said.

"Why him?" Stack wanted to know.

"A connection to someone in an old case we worked on."

"Looks like a business deal that had some doubtful connections to the Middle East…Ferguson was about to have Homeland look into it. His notes have an email sent to the director the day before he was killed, saying that an official letter would follow. That letter was typed the night he died. He never got to mail it."

"Good call, Beckett," Adams said. "Is that connection anybody we know?"

"Drug dealer here in New York back in the late nineties," she answered, as if it were of no consequence.

"See what you can find in the military records of the two hit men," Esposito asked. "Can I ask you to do that?"

"You're working as hard as we are. Ask what you want," Adams assured him.

After finding them in the system, Dailey reported that they were both disciplined often, and both were close to a dishonorable discharge when they were killed on a mission in Afghanistan.

"They're both listed as employees of Arantis Solutions," Stack said. "I found that yesterday afternoon right before we went home. It's a military contracting service. Staffs the kind of people who would know how to handle these killings."

Captain Gates knocked on the door and asked to see Beckett and Adams. "I won't keep them long," she promised.

Closed in her office, she told him, "I've heard from our contact, Adams. They're going to get your family out of DC. An FBI agent will call in a few minutes to let you know what to expect."

"They're going to call here? My family…"

"Here. Take this. She's going to call on this phone."

"Is this… You have a… There's something else going on, isn't there?"

"There are other agents working on things related to some people in common with our case, and for now, let's leave it at I can't afford to cross Bracken, either. It scares the hell out of me that I just told you that much. If it gets out, we could all be dead."

The phone in his hand rang, and he answered hesitantly, "Adams."

"This is Agent Nichols. We're putting together a plan to get your family out of DC. Do you and your wife have any sort of recognition word we can use so she knows to trust us?"

"I may even have a plan for you. We wanted to plan a way to get of a bad situation if it was necessary, without scaring the kids. When Deb, the older daughter, first asked what Daddy did at work, we told her Daddy's job is to find people. If we ever had to disappear, we were going to tell them we were playing a game to see if Daddy could find them. That way changing clothes or wearing wigs or going with someone Mommy said was part of the game would make sense and be fun, and they'd do it willingly. We even chose a store where they could change in the dressing rooms so they could get away and meet me."

"I think we can work with that. I'll need to know the name of the store and what we need to say so she knows it's safe."

He gave her the name and location of the store and said, "Ask her how the game is going."

"Got it. Call her and find a way to work that into the conversation along with two o'clock. Agents will be there by then waiting for them. You should be in the restroom on the first floor of the bookstore a block south of the precinct at the same time. Two agents will meet you there and ask you the same question. Anything else you need to know?"

"I think I'm good...or I will be. I can't thank you enough."

"No problem, Adams. Just doing my job."

Standing as he handed the phone back to Gates, he said, "I can't thank the two of you enough, either. Whatever is going on, Beckett, I hope it works out for you. After what I did, I know it's hard now, but you can trust both of them."

Adams left the captain's office, then Beckett looked at Gates and asked, "Do I dare?"

"I don't know, Kate. It's unfortunate that the cases overlapped when we're so close. Nichols said they checked into your team, and they couldn't find…" She sighed. "I don't know how you can avoid telling them something, even if it isn't everything. You know them better than I do. Your instincts are good. Use them."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

It wasn't quite ten when Beckett left the captain's office. She saw Adams alone, talking on his phone in the hallway, and met him as he came back toward her.

"Did she understand?" Beckett asked barely above a whisper.

Adams answered, "Yeah. It went the way I expected it to. We had a plan, but I never thought we'd have to use it…walk away from everything we have to go who knows where."

"We shouldn't be talking about this out here," Beckett reminded him, touching his arm in sympathy. "Conference room. We both need to talk to the others."

"Might as well get it done," he answered with a sigh.

Closing the door of the conference room behind them as they entered, Beckett said, "Adams and I have things to tell you. I hope you can trust me enough to help, and I hope I can trust you enough to keep several of us alive."

"I thought I caught something in the air earlier. What's going on?" Stack asked.

"Let me start," Adams said. "I have a confession to make and less time to be here." He told them about the threat to his family and the connection to Littleton. "You know that isn't who I am, but my family…" He stopped, tears threatening, and said, "The FBI has agents getting my wife and kids out of DC and getting me out of New York this afternoon at two. We'll be protected until whatever this is has ended. I still want Beckett in charge here. After this case, Stack takes over the team. For now, I've written letters for you and the AG…to let him know about the threat and that I allowed it to compromise my job. Stack, I'll give them to you, and you can put the AG's in his hands. Follow Beckett's lead on the rest. She's handled things well so far. I don't know how long we'll be gone…or what will happen to me when this is done. At the very least, my career is likely to be over."

"I don't know what to say, Adams," Dailey answered. "Who was responsible for the threat?"

"I don't know, but the things they said…I believed them. I thought it had something to do with Senator Bracken; that's why I was so surprised not to see him on those lists this morning."

"He was probably responsible. Or somebody close to him was," Beckett agreed, looking apologetically at Stack and Dailey. "Like I said, I have things to tell you, too. There's another federal investigation going on, and it's overlapped ours at the worst possible time, but if it hadn't, both investigations would be missing information. I need to tell you about it, but not here. Too much to tell."

"Lunch at the loft?" Castle asked.

"Best excuse I can think of fast," Beckett answered.

"I'll ask everybody more publicly a little later…to make it seem spontaneous."

"Can we start talking about going back to DC?" Beckett asked Stack and Dailey. "Make a couple of statements out in the bullpen where somebody can overhear…sound like we're at a standstill? We'll need to do some interviews at Arantis for show, but can we plan on leaving tomorrow afternoon? I think I can convince you at lunch."

Stack and Dailey looked at one another, as if they were considering all the unexpected developments.

"It goes against the grain to give it up without good reason," Stack said, "but convince us, and I'll work with you. Dailey?"

"Yeah," she answered with a frustrated sigh. "Me, too."

"I'll get the captain in on the show. She's the one who made the contact for Adams."

"How many more people are involved in this?" Stack asked impatiently.

"Only Ryan. We don't know Marconi. She's a wild card, and I can't go there. We lucked out and she was sick this morning. We can do this without trying to work around her."

"Speaking of Ryan," Castle said. "I'm going to call him. See if you guys can come up with some kind of segue into lunch at the loft." He left the conference room and went into the bullpen with his phone, smiling at the sound of his friend's voice answering. "Hey, Ryan. How's Jenny doing?"

"Hey, Castle. She's okay, considering," Ryan answered. "The doctor says we'll be here a while, but it's definitely happening. By sometime tonight, we should be parents…real parents." The excitement showed in his voice.

"And you're going to be great at it. Listen, we've got a lot going on today…with both teams, but we'll check in with you now and then."

"Okay. Thanks for the call."

"You'll let us know…"

"Sure will. Oh, gotta go. Jenny's having another contraction."

"Tell her we're all thinking about both of you...actually all three of you."

"Bye."

Beckett walked over to him and asked, "So what's happening?"

"Contractions," Castle answered with a big grin. "You should have heard him. He's so ready to be a father."

"Jenny's probably ready to have that kid out where she can hold it and be a mom, too. It's bound to be easier to push it in a stroller and change its diapers than to do what she's doing now."

"Yeah, but that other stuff is going to last a lot longer," Castle answered as he followed Kate into the break room for coffee. Esposito joined them after leaving the rest of the federal team in the conference room.

"I thought they might want a little time with Adams before he leaves," Javier said as he picked up a cup for his own coffee.

"Are you willing to make the food run again?" Castle asked. "I can go get things ready at the loft, and Kate can bring them over a little later. Whatever we get, it's on me."

"We can all pitch in, man."

"My place, my treat," Castle insisted.

"Okay, but you give me that much extra money again, I'm keeping it." Esposito threatened.

Castle smiled at the teasing, then he remembered to tell his friend, "Oh, Jenny's doing okay. I just talked to Ryan."

"Good," Esposito grinned, raising his cup. "To fatherhood," he said before he went back to his desk to decide how to keep himself looking busy before they put on their performance and left.

Kate made the rounds of the conference room, the captain's office, the coffee machine, and talking to Castle. About half an hour later, plan intact, the federal team emerged from the conference room, and Gates left her office asking about progress, ostensibly on her way for coffee.

"Not much," Adams answered. "We need to talk to these guys' bosses and coworkers…see if they know anything."

"I hope it pays off better than everything else. We keep running into brick walls," Dailey agreed.

"Anybody else interested in an early lunch?" Esposito asked. "All this frustration has me hungry."

"Does that mean you're volunteering to pick up lunch again?" Beckett asked with a teasing smile.

"You pick it up, I'll buy," Castle offered.

"Sounds like a good deal to me," Gates answered. "I'd take him up on it." Then she went to the break room and returned to her office with coffee.

"Why don't we go to my place for lunch?" Castle suggested. "It isn't that far; Beckett can bring you over. There's plenty of room…might be more relaxing. Javier can bring it there."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm willing to go back and tell my friends I had lunch at Richard Castle's apartment," Dailey said, grinning.

"Fine," Stack said. "I'm willing to tell my friends I got free food a couple of times."

"What friends?" Adams teased, shoving Stack's shoulder. "Do you actually know anybody but us?" Adams put forth the effort to joke with Stack about his ungrateful ways, which didn't seem to faze Stack at all.

"So what do we want…more Chinese, pizza, sandwiches…"

"The Chinese was good," Stack said.

"Then Chinese it is," Castle answered, giving him a friendly, light slap on the arm. "I'm going home. I'll be waiting for you. Coming, Javier?"

"Yeah." He looked over his shoulder on the way to the elevator and told the others, "See you later."

Not knowing how Beckett would want to handle the disclosures she was about to make, Castle took their copies of 'the Bracken files' as they had decided to call them, from his well-hidden floor safe. He had copied each file's information and kept them separated in manila envelopes; and he left them waiting in his desk drawer, along with the information on Arantis for name comparisons. That being done, he set plates, etc. out on the table and was ready when everyone else got there.

When they had all arrived, Kate asked what they wanted first, food or explanations.

Hearing them agree on explanations, Castle said, "Middle desk drawer. It's all there."

Kate returned with an armload of envelopes, handed one to each member of her federal team, and put the rest on the coffee table. "You know how to read police files. Each of these was put together by a police officer who was coerced into silence by Bracken when he was just building power. He handled it through fear then, too. It doesn't matter which file you have. They tell the same ugly story with a few additions and subtractions here and there. All you need to do is read one file to know why I don't want to compromise the other investigation."

She went to the kitchen to stand near Castle as the others read, and he put his arm around her shoulders for comfort as they waited. Now and then they would hear a quietly breathed, "You've got to be kidding." or "Oh, my God." or "How did he get away with all this?" Then Stack asked, "This was your mother, Beckett?"

"Yeah," was the only answer he got.

"And you still saved him from that bomb?"

"I told him how amazing she is," Castle commented. "I also told him I wouldn't have done it. I would have watched."

"It was instinct," Beckett said, "what I'd do for anybody…and maybe it's for the best." Becoming gradually more agitated, she continued. "If he'd died then, all this may never have come out. I want him locked up. I want him to pay. I want all the families he's threatened and devastated to see him humiliated and threatened and confined…held accountable for being the worthless, power happy, murderous piece of sub-humanity he is."

"All those well-chosen, spontaneous words," Castle said proudly. "Can you write that down? I might want it for my next book."

Esposito had experienced the dynamic between Castle and Beckett well enough not to appear surprised at what he heard. However, the three members of Beckett's new team were immediately quiet, watching as if they wondered how she would respond to his seemingly inappropriate rejoinder. All three looked surprised when Beckett turned toward him, smiled, and rested her forehead on his shoulder.

"I'm not sure I can remember them all. That's why it's called spontaneous, right?"

"Right," he answered, looking at her lovingly. "Can't win 'em all, I guess. It would have been a great piece of dialog." He squeezed her shoulder playfully.

"I'm okay," she said softly.

"Okay. Back to business?"

She straightened up and more calmly pointed out the Arantis pages near the other envelopes. "Do you remember the names of the others in the drug dealing?" she asked. The other three shook themselves out of what they watched between Castle and Beckett and checked the names.

"No way!" Dailey exclaimed. "Does this mean he still…"

"Is he still killing people?" Stack asked.

"He's tried to have me killed twice…came pretty close both times. Everybody who tried to tell us anything about my mother's murder or anything connected to what happened around it is dead. I'm not sure why I'm not with them. We just got these files this week. Until now, we had no solid proof; and they're the only thing between me and another hit. I bluffed him into thinking we had them, which is the only reason I'm here. If I'm caught investigating things that would implicate Bracken, the deal is off, and everybody I care about could go down with me. Long story. I'll give it to you later if you want it, but right now we need to decide how to handle what we have."

Esposito took up the explanation. "We've dealt with three of Bracken's hit men. Dick Coonan, now deceased, killed the three women you read about, including Mrs. Beckett, and likely a number of others. Killed his own brother a few years ago. He goes way back. The other two, Hal Lockwood and Cole Maddox, both relatively recently deceased, also worked for Arantis…Unit C…former Special Forces, working under assumed names."

"And our two guys in the morgue were also in Unit C?" Adams asked.

"Right. My personal opinion is that they recruit the rogue element. I was Special Forces. The rogues are rare, but like any organization, there's one now and then…no conscience, no limits. It looks like Unit C could be their assassination squad. Lanie said Ferguson and Littleton were both shot with the guns we found on the two men in the morgue. The other two were shot with a third weapon. I'll bet if we had a chance to do ballistics, we'd find that third weapon on one of the men they have left in Unit C."

"It only gets worse," Dailey said, shaking her head. "The Congressman we looked at. There was a financial question having to do with a Middle Eastern connection, right? If they're all involved in something illegal, any of them could have threatened Adams."

"Who else is working on this?" Stack asked, terse, but getting the important points covered.

"The FBI team I mentioned…and they have contacts in the CIA and Homeland…people Gates had worked with off and on and trusted. They're keeping it under the radar and working only with a few other agents they've hand-picked…trying not to tip Bracken off before they have enough to make whatever they charge him with stick," Beckett told them.

Stack looked stiff when he said, "My guess is that you want to give them our information on Arantis and the two careless hit men and have us do just enough to look like we made the right efforts…lull Arantis into thinking they're getting away with whatever it is."

"They don't know we have the portable drive with Ferguson's records. I'd like them to have a copy of that, too. I know there are at least a couple of more recent incidents they're looking into, but I don't know what. Some of Ferguson's records might help.

The rest of the team was quiet for a very long moment before Adams spoke up. "I don't know if they've ever actually done what the voice on the phone said they'd do to my wife and kids, but I'd be in favor of using the information where it has the best chance of getting the job done. We're obviously in Bracken's sights. If they aren't, let them take it and run with it.

"Agreed," Dailey answered.

Stack just nodded.

"Thank you." Beckett sighed and wrapped her arms around Castle's waist, obviously relieved.

"Did we earn our lunch yet?" Esposito asked.

Everyone chuckled uneasily as Castle got the food from the warmer and put it on the table. They all sat down and ate silently for a while before conversation picked up a little at a time.

"How long have you known Bracken was behind your mother's murder?" Dailey asked.

"About a year," Kate answered.

"Why didn't you move on it then?"

"No solid evidence. We found one thing that convinced him we knew too much, so he agreed to leave us alone. Now I can tell him more. We should be okay a little longer…hopefully long enough for the other agents to take what they have from all their sources and connect more dots. Even with this, I doubt he'll be arrested overnight. If it were me, I'd want time to dot every 'i' and cross every 't' on anything I had before I moved on it."

"Damn straight," Stack agreed. "I doubt we see anything happen right away."

"You were shot, what, a little over two years ago? You've lived with knowing somebody might try it again all that time?" Adams asked.

"Pretty much."

"Stack knew she was as extraordinary as I did; otherwise, he wouldn't have recruited her," Castle challenged.

"I hope this isn't making it a decision any of you regret," Kate said, looking down.

"As far as I'm concerned, it should make us more determined to help however we can," Adams answered. "But it has to be a decision for Stack and Dailey. I won't be around."

"I never liked Bracken even when I didn't know all this. I got no problem at all helping to hang him." In an uncharacteristic moment of looking like there was a heart in there somewhere, he added, "Besides, he went after one of ours…twice. That's not happening again."

"Whatever you need, Beckett. You're in charge of this project. Tell us what you want." Dailey assured her.

"I'll go back to the office with you, then mention that I promised to take my kids something from New York. That gives me a chance to leave and for you to seem concerned when I don't come back. Stack has the resignation letter for the Attorney General and one for the rest of you that you can 'find' when you check my room at the hotel tonight. That should help get you out of the woods on my disappearance."

"We'll go back and spend part of the afternoon deciding what to ask at Arantis to make us look like we're doing our jobs well…without upsetting them enough to start calling in the other Unit C members. We'll be concerned when Adams doesn't come back, and we'll interview the other members of Unit C tomorrow morning. If we can't find pictures of the other Unit C members, is there any kind of camera we can use to get whatever might be available tomorrow…something they wouldn't detect easily?"

"I'll see what I can do," Stack offered.

"I know a guy…" Castle began, and Beckett smiled.

"Of course you do," she answered. "We'll go to him if Stack has any trouble."

"And after we exhaust what we can get at Arantis tomorrow?" Dailey asked.

"Tomorrow afternoon, after whatever we can get from Arantis, we'll start packing up to go back to DC, give Captain Gates copies of whatever we have so she can deliver it to the other team; and we'll let them work on Bracken. Is everybody satisfied with that?"

The other two agreed, they cleared off the lunch remains, and then they all returned to the precinct. Dailey made copies of the portable drive for Gates and for Beckett to add to her file copies. Adams took his coffee cup back to the break room and made a point of mentioning, in the open area of the bullpen, the reason he was leaving. The others on Beckett's new and old teams made a show of concern and calling his phone and getting no response. Castle checked in with Ryan again, and reported to the rest of the homicide floor that he said it shouldn't be too much longer, and Jenny and the baby were still fine.

Around closing time, the federal team left "to check Adams' room to see if he was sick or something."

In the elevator, Beckett told them after they had looked around Adams' room, they should get some rest. They'd meet at the precinct the next morning and surprise the Arantis staff with a visit.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

All their questions for Arantis being planned, a camera installed in Dailey's sunglasses, and their game faces on, Stack, Dailey, and Beckett approached the receptionist at Arantis solutions. The forty percent owner soon came to greet them with his best welcoming smile in place.

"What can we do for you? Is there a problem?" He introduced himself as Samuel Colby, Director.

"We have two of your employees, a Mr. Moss and a Mr. Courtney, in the morgue. They were involved in hits on two civilians…one an innocent neighbor of the first victim, and the other, Wesley Ferguson, a government employee in possession of both classified and unclassified wide-reaching personal information. They stole electronic equipment from Mr. Ferguson's home, including his computer, and we assume his back-up drive, since he seemed to be very a thorough sort of man, and we didn't find one. Our witness, the neighbor, heard them indicate that someone wanted only the laptop and there was payment expected for the job." Stack told the director.

"Our research places them in Unit C of your organization," Beckett continued. "We'd like to see their records, and we'd like to speak to the others in Unit C and anyone else who might know them. What can you tell us about them?"

"I heard about those murders, and you say they were involved? I'm sorry to hear that. We do our best to hold our people to high standards. I feel terrible for those men's families. As for our men, they've only been with us about six months. I'd been concerned about them recently. They seemed less focused than when they first came in. We can't have a lack of focus. Unit C is our best…a small unit sent as bodyguards for high profile needs, missions that require prime physical condition and training and finely honed tactical skills and weapons training. You get the idea. I can give you information on the men themselves, but we offer our clients privacy. I can't give you that information without a warrant or the permission of the client."

"Then today we'll look at their files," Stack agreed. "But, before that, would you introduce us to the other members of Unit C?"

"With the loss of Courtney and Moss, we're down to four in that unit at the moment. Come with me. I'll get their records for you and take you to them. This time of the morning, they're usually in the gym. As far as knowing about the private lives of Courtney and Moss, I don't know that they'll be much help. Most of these guys are loners…don't spend a lot of time cultivating friendships…trust among themselves about their work, yes; but they're all about the job."

"Do you recruit from the military?" Dailey asked, "or do you handle your own training programs?

"A little of both," Colby answered. "Sometimes they come from other agencies similar to ours."

"Can we have a quick tour of the facilities here before we leave?" she asked. "It looks like state of the art."

"No problem," Colby agreed.

They interviewed the other four members of Unit C, had their tour, and then sat down to go over the records for the remaining men in the unit, which they already knew to be falsified. After speaking to the director again, they said they would be in touch about any further information they might need. Colby oozed what he intended to be charm as he offered to cooperate fully, and they left.

Back in the car, Beckett asked, "Anybody got any slime remover? I feel like it's in every pore."

"Will you want to come back with a warrant?" Stack asked.

"Let's compare notes on what it looks like we've got…see if a good show requires anything else," Beckett answered. "I'm not sure I can stand the slime factor again."

"Plenty of that in there," Stack agreed. "It's a good ways back to the twelfth. Let's decide before we get back so we know whether to start dismantling things or not."

They talked on the way back, decided a couple of well-planned, well-placed phone calls to Arantis would do, and agreed to leave for DC the next morning.

Pictures from the camera in Dailey's sunglasses were run through facial recognition and again identified as members of the military working at Arantis under new names. Beckett wrote a report on their visit to Arantis, and everything they had was copied for Gates.

They again let it look like they were only reaching dead-ends and made it obvious that they were moving out. Their electronic gear was left locked in the conference room overnight.

xxxxx

On their way back to the loft, their last visit there together for a few weeks, Beckett and Castle stopped by the hospital. Taking the gifts they had bought for Jenny and the baby from the back seat, they went to see their friends and the newest Ryan.

The door was partially closed when they reached it. "Hey, Ryan," Beckett said softly as she peeked in. Is Jenny…"

"I'm awake," they heard from Jenny. "They didn't come to get him yet. Come and see him. He's beautiful."

"Yes, he is," Castle answered, "But it's handsome. Men would rather be called handsome, and he is that. "May I?" he asked.

Jenny beamed and admired the way Castle knew just how to hold him.

"Come see Uncle Rick," he said, holding Little Ryan and stroking his cheek gently with his thumb. "Does he have a name yet?"

"We thought he did," Ryan told them, "but when we saw him, it didn't sound right. We're rethinking."

Kate watched Rick, who was watching the baby as if it were the most awesome sight in the world. She nearly forgot to look at the baby, then remembered the purpose for their visit.

"You're right, Jenny. No matter what 'Uncle Rick' says about words, he's beautiful."

"You want to hold him?" Castle asked. Looking back toward Jenny, he confirmed, "Is that okay?"

Jenny nodded, and Castle put the baby carefully in Kate's arms. "He's so tiny…and feels so sweet. Awww," she said as the little one nuzzled his face into her arms.

"He likes you," Castle said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You like Aunt Kate, don't you?" he said, running his hand over the back of the baby's head.

"Let me have him again before the nurse comes back and takes him away," Ryan said, and Kate handed him over.

"You look like a natural, Kevin," Kate observed.

"So did you," he answered teasingly.

The last comment left Kate feeling a little uncomfortable. She and Castle still hadn't talked about the possibility of children.

Jenny seemed to catch the discomfort, and said, "That ring is gorgeous, Kate. I'm so glad the two of you finally got this far. Have you set a date yet?"

"No. Too many things going on at once. We'll decide on that soon."

Looking back at the men, who were both fawning over the baby, Jenny said, "He looks so happy."

"Yeah, he does," Kate agreed.

"Which he are we talking about, Kate Beckett?"

Kate looked embarrassed. "Both of them, I guess. We haven't talked about that yet, either."

"This might be a good opening."

"Maybe," Kate answered, still watching Castle. Coming back from her dreamy fog, she said, "We should go and let you and Dad over there have a little time with your son before they take him back to the nursery. And we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. We're going back to DC. Packing to do."

"Thanks for coming. I loved seeing the two of you with him."

Kate smiled. "Castle, we should go, let them have some time with the baby."

"Yeah, we should. Congratulations, both of you. You, too little guy," he added, "You're gonna have awesome parents."

They left the hospital and took a cab back to the loft, contently cuddled against one another during the ride.

When they were in the loft, Castle asked, "What do you say we get up early and pack tomorrow morning. Just throw it all in and deal with it when we get back to DC."

"Works for me," Kate answered, distracted.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked. "You're not saying something very loudly."

She hesitated before she forced herself to ask, "When you fired that laser gun and were worried about…"

"I remember."

"You said you'd like to have options, but we never talked about it."

"I'm open to the idea."

"But Alexis is grown. Do you really think you'd want to start all over again?"

"Only with you. Emphasis on _with_ you. I'm too old to do the single dad thing again. Do you want kids?" He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the curve of her neck. "You looked so good holding the baby tonight."

"You did, too…you looked…beautiful." She turned to him and put a finger on his lips to stop the word choice argument. "You're a very handsome man, Rick; but you're also a beautiful man, inside and out, and I love you."

"Are you avoiding an answer?" he questioned. "Was that a stalling tactic, or did my beautifulness distract you a little bit?"

"You've distracted me a lot…for a lot longer than you know." She played with the buttons on his shirt as she said, "I think I'd like to have at least one…maybe a ruggedly handsome little boy like his father. But I'm afraid to bring a baby into the world while Bracken is still free in it. We know we have him now. Can we talk about it again after he's actually out of the way?"

"We can talk about it any time you want."

"I love you so much," she said, sliding her arms around his neck.

'Love you, too," he said and kissed her long and soft before saying, "Want to go practice…you know, just in case…so we don't forget how?"

She laughed and let him lead her to the bedroom.

xxxxx

Once back in their apartment in DC, work took Kate by storm again. The team had gone over everything from the Ferguson case again to be sure they appeared to have things appropriately covered, then a much more significant case came up, involving national security. After a week of travel time to pull all the facts together, this one still had the team working ridiculously long hours, and Kate came home at night with only enough energy for a shower and sleep.

Castle was trying to write, and making some progress; but he was also worrying about Kate. She was physically exhausted from the case and mentally exhausted wondering when or whether Bracken would call her out on her team's involvement with Arantis. Aside from the normal exhaustion, she'd had a couple of nightmares that kept her awake for a while. He wasn't sure how much more she could take.

In the middle of a workday during a second week of the same long hours, she got a call from Bracken telling her to find a place to talk to him. She walked around in the office, as if she were going somewhere else, closed the door, walked a little more, then stopped and said, "Talk" angrily. She put a finger to her lips for the other two people in the room to be quiet.

"I thought we had a deal. Do you need a reminder?" Bracken said testily.

"We do have a deal. No reminders required," Beckett answered.

"Somebody hacked into something connected to me last night. You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you? First your people were looking into one of my investments, then…"

"I don't know anything about any hacking, and do you really think I wanted to follow that lead?" she asked sharply. "If I hadn't, it would have looked suspicious. I'm the new kid here, remember? Did you want me to call more attention to the situation? As it is, I was able to deflect some of what would have led back to you."

"I don't buy that for a minute. And I don't believe you have those files, either."

"Well, Senator, if saving your sorry life doesn't impress you, maybe I could tell you about your partners in the drug ring back in the nineties, and how they're still your partners in Arantis…which, by the way, employed four hit men that I know of, and probably a fifth one. Now, since that information didn't get out, if you don't think I'm holding up my end of the deal, you'll just have to send somebody to kill me. But keep in mind, we now have more than one copy of those files, and we're not stupid enough to hide them anywhere near somebody we care about. If something happens to any of us, including my new team, you should know there are plans in place to automatically release all those copies where they'll do the most damage, so you'd better hope none of us accidentally walk out in front of a bus. I'm too tired for this right now. Do what you think you have to. Just leave me alone while you're at it." She furiously pressed 'end'.

The other two agents watched her in stunned silence.

"That was Bracken?" Stack asked.

Beckett just nodded, breathing a little harder than normal.

"Are you sure you're a woman?" he asked. When she looked at him questioningly, he added, "'Cause you've got a set…"

"Hey!" Dailey piped up. "You're working with two women now. A little respect."

"I've got way more than a little respect for that. You okay, Beckett?"

"What did I just do?" she asked, sitting down, her hands shaky.

"You just scared the hell out of a monster about ten times your size. Pretty impressive."

"Yeah." Dailey agreed.

"I was too tired to think about what I was doing."

"We're all getting there," Dailey sympathized.

"I've kept you overtime too much this week. Go home to your fiancé, Beckett. We'll go home, too, Dailey. Maybe a half day's break will help us see something we've missed tomorrow."

"You don't have to twist my arm," Beckett answered as she grabbed her jacket. "See you tomorrow." She walked out to the front of the building and sat down on the steps, too shaken to get farther right then. After pulling her phone from her pocket, she called Castle. "Come and get me…please. I need you."

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm okay. I…I just need _you_. Nothing else will help."

"Where are you? I'll be right there."

She told him where to find her and didn't move until after he appeared with coffee and sat down beside her with his own. She leaned against him and they sat quietly for a moment.

"The driver is circling the block until I flag him down. Want to tell me about it?"

"Not here. Stack sent us home. I think he finally realized how tired we all are and suggested some time off might do us and the case some good."

"There's a bigger story in that, isn't there?"

"Yeah. But you don't get it until we're home."

"I see the car at the corner." He stood and raised his arm where his driver could see him, then took Kate's hand and helped her up. "Let's go home, then, and you can tell me what has you so on edge." Putting his arm around her waist, he guided her to the car, held the door for her as she got in, and held her protectively all the way there.

At their apartment, they sat down to finish their coffee, and he once again asked what happened.

She told him about the call from Bracken and said worriedly, "I hope I didn't tell him enough to damage the investigation. I was so angry…and tired enough that my filters weren't working."

"You gave it to him with both barrels, didn't you? I think I'm proud."

"I think Stack might have been, too," she said with a smile. "There wasn't much left of me to work with _before_ Bracken called. That call pretty well took the rest of the starch out of me. Stack and Dailey were both listening, and I think he realized then how far over the edge all of us really were."

"Well, fortunately for you, I love you with or without starch. What do you need most…lunch and then sleep, or just sleep?"

"How about some of that tomato basil soup you made yesterday…and then sleep?"

"Coming right up." He warmed the soup and brought it to her in a mug. "Might as well make it as easy as possible," he explained.

Kate slept and he wrote, and they had a pleasant, restful evening together before they both slept that night…better than either of them had in a couple of weeks.

xxxxx

With the entire team in a better frame of mind, they did indeed find something they had missed, and things began to fall into place. Once they had put their involvement in that case to rest, they had an entire day before something else took them to Texas for most of the following week. For others, they were in and out of town often, the most recent trip taking Kate to Chicago.

Castle went back to New York for a visit that week and spent some time with Alexis. He even took his mother out to dinner one night. He had missed her and wanted her to know that.

Kate called when she was on her way back to DC. They had a few loose ends to tie up in the next few days, but that assignment had been relatively undemanding compared to other recent ones. Castle had a meeting with his publisher the next morning, plans for another book tour; so she came home to an empty apartment. It didn't seem as much like home without Castle in it. She sat in the near dark of the quiet, empty apartment that night and did a lot of self-searching.

By the time Castle was back in DC, Kate had been at work for a while. When he knew it was past her "at least on paper" work hours, he called her and asked, "Any chance of a nice dinner out tonight?"

"Not the dress up kind. Would you settle for that little steak place we found…maybe around seven-thirty?"

"Sure. Call when you can leave, and I'll be there to pick you up."

"Love you," she answered.

xxxxx

As they waited for their dinner to be served, their fingers were twined together on the table top.

Stroking Castle's fingers with hers, she said tentatively, "We haven't talked about when we'll get married."

"I wanted to give you time to adjust to the new job before I put any kind of pressure on you."

"Do you have any ideas…a time you'd want?"

"Yesterday," he answered, smiling and giving her hand a little squeeze.

"I was thinking about things last night," she said.

"Good or bad?"

"Neutral, I think…kind of taking stock."

"Any conclusions?"

"That our entire life together revolves around my job. You haven't asked to set a date for the wedding because of the job. We can't plan a trip we'd both enjoy because of the job. I don't want to commit to children partly because you'd have too much of the responsibility for them…and I know I wouldn't want to be away from them as much as I'd have to be."

"Kate?"

"You've been so patient with this arrangement, and I do think it's been good for us to have time and a place that's ours…no one else's. It let us settle into being confident of each other. But you're a man who likes having his family around him, and I'm beginning to think there might be more of that in me than I realized. I miss my dad, and Martha and Alexis, and girl's night now and then with Lanie, and being able to see the boys sometimes. And while you weren't there last night, it didn't seem so much like home. I started thinking about how many times I had left you with that feeling."

"Are you saying you want to go back to New York?"

"Yeah. I think I am. I may have lost my future at NYPD, though. Guess you'll have to step up and be my future."

"I'm good with that."

"So I suppose I'd better start deciding how to go about it. Adams is already gone. They'll need time to replace me."

"Then the sooner you tell them, the better."

"This case is winding down. Now is probably good. "I'll talk to Stack tomorrow."

xxxxx

The three federal team members sat at their desks after Beckett broke her news that morning.

"We can't talk you out of it?" Dailey asked.

"It's a damn shame, Beckett. You're too good at this to leave it."

"Stack, a few months ago you asked me where I saw myself in five years, and right then I wasn't a hundred per cent sure. If you asked me right now where I see myself in five years, I'm certain. My life has been the job since I graduated from the academy, and this job is even more demanding than what I was doing before. I see myself in five years in a job that fits into my life, not one that owns it. I love the work, but there are other things that are more important to me now. I'll stay until the end of the month if you need me to; but if you can replace me before then, I'll go earlier.

The month was nearly over before two new task force members were brought in. Kate breathed a sigh of relief and told Castle the good news that night.

"I'm officially free," she told him.

"How does a week in the Hamptons sound? It isn't warm anymore, but it isn't that cold yet, either."

"It sounds wonderful," she answered, stretching out on the sofa. "Think we can get Martha and Alexis there part of the time?"

"Your dad, too if you want."

"That would be fun. Let's pack tomorrow. Tonight, let's do something just for fun…a movie, an arcade, a walk along the bay…anything but work."

He grinned at her exuberance. "I like spontaneous Kate. She's cute. Come on. Put on your jeans and sneakers. Let's walk to the coffee shop, feed your caffeine habit, then wander off to whatever looks appealing…no specific plan."

"Be right back," she answered with a grin and gave him a big kiss before she went to change clothes.

xxxxx

After their week in the Hamptons, Beckett went to see Captain Gates.

"When I left, you said if I ever wanted to come back you'd do what you could to help. I've left the task force, and I don't think I'm meant to be the stay at home wife of a rich guy. I'm here for that help if you're still willing."

"You didn't like the work?"

"I loved the work, and I was good at it; but I love Castle more, and we were building our life together around the job. I left it willingly…no regrets."

"Well, in that case, come in tomorrow morning…with Mr. Castle if you want. I'll see what I can do."

"Any news on…"

"I was going to call you. My contact said to tell you to keep your eyes open for some big news in the next few days."

"Thank you, Sir." She left smiling. Ryan and Esposito weren't at their desks, so she went to see Lanie for a few minutes to let her know she was back and ready for a girl's night.

For the next couple of days, there was a news station playing non-stop wherever Castle and Beckett were. They turned it off only when they stopped by the precinct to see the captain the next morning.

"You're certain you want to come back?" the captain asked.

"Absolutely," she answered.

"Marconi is here temporarily, you know."

"Temporarily? Why? She said she was my replacement."

"She was covering for you during your leave of absence."

"My leave of absence?"

"Remember that second set of forms I had you fill out? Mr. Castle has used his connections with the mayor to advantage more than once. I decided it was my turn. I did some fast talking, mentioning his name several times, and got the mayor and the chief to agree to allow it. You had me worried, though; you're coming back right under the wire. That agreement had almost timed out. Monday next week is when you need to begin. I've already started the paperwork. Same position, same team. Welcome back."

"Thank you." Beckett looked dumfounded.

"Will you be back with us, too, Mr. Castle?"

"If you'll have me. We're still going to be married soon," he reminded her.

"Just keep it professional at work…and promise me an invitation to the wedding."

"Yes, sir," he agreed with a smile. "Not a problem."

"Now let's all get back to the news," she said, pointing at the ear buds hanging from his shirt pocket. "I'll be so glad to see this whole story unfold…and to be out of that particular loop again."

"Thank you for everything you've done, Captain. I know it wasn't easy for you," Beckett answered.

"The man needed to go down, and I'm a law enforcement officer. And I don't take kindly to people trying to kill my detectives." Waving her hands at them to shoo them off, she added. "Go on. Enjoy your time off. I'm going back to my office. CNN is running on my laptop. If something happens, I don't want to miss a minute of it."

"Me, either," Kate said as they left.

Castle put the ear buds back in, and they returned to the loft and turned the television on.

Mid-afternoon they heard an announcement for breaking news and sat down in anticipatory silence, waiting.

The announcer's voice came in behind a distant picture of the Capitol Building and the camera moved in slowly as he said excitedly, "In a shocking set of circumstances, a number of government employees have been arrested on charges ranging from murder for hire to weapons trafficking…the highest ranking of them being Senator William Bracken and Congressman Braden Weston. Our correspondents tell us that there are a number of others arrested both here and in New York City. According to our sources, the evidence against them is irrefutable and the charges cover more than a decade. This is a sight we may not see again in our lifetimes."

The cameras panned in close to the doors of the building and mercilessly followed the Senator and the Congressman, both of whom were handcuffed and being slowly led down the capitol steps by FBI agents and guided to waiting cars. Questions were being shouted from reporters and sullen "No comment" responses from both men trailed behind them all the way to the cars.

A statement from the director of the FBI was promised for later that afternoon, and then the walk down the capitol steps became a nearly endless news loop on every station. Each time they changed the station looking for other information, Kate had to watch the walk again. Gradually the other names they expected to hear were added to the arrest list, and some of the multiple charges against them began to come out. When the FBI Director made a statement, even more charges were listed, arrests at Arantis were mentioned, and the company was named as having been the nexus of the murder for hire and the weapons trafficking; the statement was again made that most of the copious evidence against them was irrefutable.

"He's finally done, isn't he?" Kate asked Castle.

"Yeah. Now they just have to convict him. It's almost over."

"She threw herself into his arms and said, "And we're just getting started."

He held her close. "Yeah, we are."

"I'm afraid to believe they have him. It's been so long."

"They have him, Kate. And with that many murder charges against him, he won't be getting out any time soon."

He disentangled himself from Kate and went to the kitchen, coming back with champagne and two glasses. He popped the cork, poured each of them a glass, and toasted, "To the chaining of the dragon."

After they raised their glasses and enjoyed the feeling of celebration, Castle said seductively, "And we have no place to be tomorrow. We can have as much of this as we want and sleep as late as we please."


	17. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Once it became obvious that neither Bracken nor his cohorts would be seeing the outside of a prison for longer than it took for their court appearances, Ryan and Esposito started talking. They saw to it that, within the precinct, the involvement of the people from the twelfth was known…particularly that of the captain. They had developed a respect and loyalty toward her that they wanted to see fill the rest of the precinct as well.

Bracken's two observers at the precinct had been identified and removed for their own punishments.

As the week progressed, the news coverage of Bracken's involvement in an appalling number of criminal activities continued to be in constant public view, and his network seemed to be collapsing around him. There was talk of business closures and frozen assets, and it seemed that every day brought the arrest of a new co-conspirator and the mention of a new outrage. His co-conspirators received similar treatment from the press, the stigma of government officials involved in such atrocities being at the forefront of the reports.

One day's news revelation was that Senator Bracken was responsible for the near fatal sniper shooting of NYPD Detective Katherine Beckett, who at the time of the attack was giving the eulogy at the funeral of Captain Roy Montgomery, the victim of another of Bracken's hits. The reporter added that, after Detective Beckett successfully survived that attack, she later nearly died again at the hands of the same hired assassin, and that Bracken had also been responsible for the murder of Detective Beckett's mother in the nineties.

Castle and Beckett heard the radio announcer's report of Bracken's involvement in her life as they were on the way to the precinct on her first day back, and it seemed appropriate somehow. They walked into the precinct to find warm welcomes from almost everyone there, some of them having heard the same news report.

Clearing any of their doubts about him, Johnson came to shake their hands, starting with Beckett. He said that before his uncle went to meet with her, he had told him about his involvement with Bracken and Mrs. Beckett's murder…had said Beckett deserved to know what really happened to her mom. He thanked her for her perseverance, explaining that Raglan was like a father to him after his own had died.

In the midst of the good will surrounding them, the couple heard a voice cut through the crowd.

"Beckett…Castle…my office, now. Paperwork to sign," Gates ordered.

After they thanked the people around them for the welcome, they went to see the captain, not nearly as nervous about it now as they might have been several months ago.

Gates smiled and commented, "Now things feel normal again." She handed each of them clipboards with the papers they needed to sign before they resumed their roles at the twelfth and sat them down to accomplish the tasks.

"Marconi cleared your desk on Friday," she told Beckett. "She's covering for someone on maternity leave at the fifty-fourth, then she'll be back here full-time to replace Ackerman when he retires at the end of the year. She's no Kate Beckett, but she's good."

Kate smiled in response to the compliment and answered, "Yes, she is. I enjoyed working with her."

"I believe these are yours, Detective." Gates took Beckett's gun and shield from her desk drawer and placed them in her hands. "Good to have you back, too, Castle," the captain acknowledged. "Now the two of you get out there and start helping build up our solve rate."

"Hey, we got a call just before you got here," Ryan told them as they left the captain's office.

"Yeah," Esposito said with a grin. "We waited for you…thought we'd let you in on the fun."

By then Ryan had texted Beckett the address, and they all left to get the job done.

They were welcomed back the same way at the crime scene and fell into the job as if they had never been away from it.

xxxxx

When they returned to the loft that evening, both Kate and Castle were smiling.

"Today felt right," Kate said as they walked in.

"It did for me," Castle agreed. "Do you have any regrets about leaving the federal team?"

"No," she answered putting her arms around him flirtatiously. "One might drift aimlessly through my head once in a while in the future, but I've missed working with you. I love having my real partner back."

"I was hoping you'd say that." His arms went around her, too, and they stood together, arms locked around waists.

"When would you like to get married?"

"Mmmm. That was a nice change of subject. As soon as we can plan the wedding you want."

"What about the wedding you want?"

"That would be the one where we get to say, 'I do.' That's my only requirement…well that and the kiss at the end," he answered playfully.

"Don't you want to make some decisions, too?" Kate asked.

"I want to help _you_ make them. You haven't done this before. I want it to be everything you think a wedding should be."

"Small."

"What?"

"That's what I want…small."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," she answered. "Family and good friends. No reporters hanging out. And I don't want it to be over the top…just really nice."

"Whatever you want it to be, I'm in. Do you have a place in mind?"

"No."

"Come on. When you were a teenager, something must have been in your mind when you thought about a wedding. What was it?"

"Stairs," she answered after a moment's hesitation. "A big, curved stairway into a big open space." Looking embarrassed, she said, "It's silly."

"No it isn't. We'll find stairs," he said with his I-love-it-when-you-tell-me-your-secrets smile.

Before we plan anything, we need to know when to plan it, so I'm asking again…when are we getting married?"

"Before Christmas. I want you to be Katherine Castle by Christmas."

"That isn't much time. Weddings notoriously take forever."

"I'll hire somebody I trust to do most of the work. Money can buy a lot of hustle."

"We can really do that?"

"We can."

She took her phone from her pocket and looked at the calendar. "December fourteenth."

"What day of the week is that? Wait. I don't care what day of the week it is. It's the day you're going to marry me." He gazed at her face for a moment and then kissed her joyfully. "I love you."

"I love you, too." The smile that was only for Castle lit her face. "It feels more real now."

"So let's order in and talk about what goes with the stairs."

After finding a phone number, she handed Castle her phone. "Is that okay?" she asked.

Castle took the phone and ordered, and they spent the time before Martha got home from her rehearsal talking about weddings and honeymoons and being married.

xxxxx

The next day Castle hired a woman to help with the wedding. She was shocked when he told her the date, but she was told that she would be paid well for making it happen by then…exactly the way Kate wanted it. She sent Castle pictures of several possible venues that afternoon and said she would wait to see if any of them were suitable before she did anything else.

As they went through the pictures, Kate's hand stilled on one, and Castle knew she had found the right place. It was a beautiful old, historic home, now available for such events. What looked like antiques could be seen near the wide, graceful, curved stairs…and pictures from other angles showed that it descended into a large foyer with room for seating. The stair rails and other woodwork in the foyer were dark, polished wood…a bit of a masculine touch for Castle.

"That's it, isn't it?" he asked.

"It's exactly what I imagined," Kate breathed softly. "I can't believe you already found it. Can we arrange to see it soon?"

"Amy said we could see any of them tomorrow if we can get away from work early enough. She's good. We go way back…parties, book events… If this is what you want, the rest should start falling into place. Amy said…"

"Amy isn't somebody you've slept with in your checkered past, is she?"

"No. I wouldn't put that in front of you, especially for our wedding…even knowing you trust me."

"I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from. I do trust you…completely."

"I know you do, and I know where it came from...and I'm sorry it's there to be dealt with; but that's my checkered past. You're my future…only you…understand?"

"I do."

"That actually comes later…probably somewhere near the foot of those stairs," he answered mischievously, pointing to the photographs in her hand.

She laughed and leaned into him. "I'm looking forward to that."

xxxxx

They were married in December in a small, simple but elegant ceremony near the foot of that beautiful curved stairway…family and old friends in attendance. By Christmas, Kate was comfortably calling herself Castle…except at work. There she was still Beckett, even though, to keep things legal, her paperwork was signed Katherine Beckett Castle. Castle had no problem with that. He was now sure of her and sure of his place in her life.

At Christmas, the Castle/Rodgers/Beckett family had their big dinner, etc. on Christmas Eve, and Castle spent Christmas Day at the precinct with Kate.

Even with prosecution on a fast track, which the public still clambered for with ex-Senator Bracken and his cronies, it still took about a year from his arrest for his trial to reach the courts. Great care had been taken to place the trial with a judge whose credibility was beyond reproach, and she refused nearly all of the defense attorney's stalling requests and objections. As originally reported in the media, the agents who had quietly compiled the evidence against Bracken and his network had given prosecutors impeccably researched files of their findings.

Prosecuted to the full extent of the law and given maximum sentences on all charges, Bracken would have to live several lifetimes beyond the present one to cover the time he was given. He and the followers charged along with him would never know another day of freedom. Near the following Thanksgiving, Bracken was locked away forever.

After hearing the news report, Kate became thoughtful.

"Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that ruggedly handsome little boy we talked about a while ago?"

"Kate?"

"Do you think we're ready for him?"

If the smile that spread across his face didn't tell her what she needed to know, the being lifted from the floor, spun gleefully in a circle, and kissed to within an inch of her life probably did.

"You know, it _could_ turn out to be a gorgeous, brunette, green-eyed little girl who could kick butt with the best of them," he warned as he put her down.

"That would be okay. I think I'd like her, too." She gave him her best smile as she looked up at him, then she looked thoughtful again. "I'm getting older, though. It might not happen."

"Then we have each other…and a lot of fun trying. The little Castles would be great, but all I need is you."

"Want to go make a ceremony of burning all the birth control?" she asked.

He took her hand, leading her toward the ceremonial materials. "As long as I get to decide what follows the ceremony," he agreed, with appropriate eyebrow action, and closed the bedroom door behind them.


End file.
